Oratory Competition
Graduation Commencement Speech Category
- Tia Brownmiller -"A New Beginning, But Not the End"
- Maura Shapiro -"Reflection"
- Caroline Nesbit -"The Cant's and Cans of the Class of 2021"
Diversity and Inclusion
- Anna Skerrett -"The Necessity of Intersectional Feminism"
- Cameron Cesare -"The Moon Over Pittsburgh"
- Joanna Wang -"Do People With Depression Deserve Love?"
Persuasive Speech Policy
- Kerry Lyons -"Raise the Wage: The Case for a Minimum Wage Hike"
- Alexander Hodge-"Fueling, Third-Party Candidates as a Means of Bipartisanship"
- Evan Lewis -"Why the Government Should Make Teaching Swimming Mandatory in Public Schools"
Commemorative Values Speech:
- Danielle Obisie-Orlu-"Identity: Progress in the Face of Adversity"
- Olivia Leonardis -"The Impact of Respect"
- Cameron Ostiguy -"Perseverance in Becoming a Pitt Engineer"
- Dayquon Henderson-"The Trip I took to New York City"
Special thank you to our judges:
Graduation Commencement: Dr. Jack Gareis (Part-time instructor, Department of Communication), Dr. Ellen Cohn (Part-time instructor, Department of Communication)
Diversity and Inclusion Speech: Dr. Lynn Clarke (Lecturer, Director of Public Speaking and Director of Speaking in the Disciplines, Department of Communication), Dr. Weiming Gorman (Lecturer, Department of Communication)
Persuasive Speech on Policy: Dr. Mickey Bannon (Lecturer, Director of the Oral Comm Lab, Department of Communication), Michael Gruenwald (2021 Senior, Undergraduate Speaking Coach, Department of Communication)
Commemorative Values Speech: Dr. Curry Chandler (Visiting instructor, Department of Communication), Dr. Elfriede Fursich (Visiting instructor, Department of Communication)