Captivating audiences, stirring emotions, and speaking to the soul of audiences comes easy to the hard working Howard University Speech and Debate Team.
Four out of the small team of five ventured to Allentown, Pa. to Cedarcrest College to compete in a three-day tournament testing their exemplary oratory skills against nine other participating schools.
Teams from the different schools from Maine all the way to Virginia, had the opportunity to compete in 11 different events.
Allen Reynolds, a sophomore television production major, and member of the HU Speech and Debate team took home the highest honor, advancing to the final national competition in the fields of dramatic interpretation, impromptu speaking, and informative speaking.
In addition to his advancing, Reynolds ranked as the top speaker overall in the tournament.
“The whole competition was very competitive,” Reynolds said. “Although this is my sixth year doing speech and competing on a team level, prayer definitely took me through, and I am proud to be a triple and final rounder.”
The HU Speech and Debate team gathers every Tuesday and Thursday to practice their tactics and pieces, by presenting them in front of their coaches, Howard alumni Javaris Powell and Jennifer Myers, a graduate student in communications sciences and disorders and attorney Tiana-Sousa Johnson, the director of forensics.
Their tireless practice paid off, all four members placed in the competition in addition to Reynolds high ranking win. Bernika Leach, a sophomore political science major, Ryan Hamilton, a senior speech and applied communications major, and Gavette Richardson, a freshman broadcast journalism major all placed in the tournament as well. Ryan Hamilton and Allen Reynolds placed in the duo speech competition.
Richardson said that competition gives the team the opportunity to put all of their hard work toward showcasing their talent and speech abilities.
“I am very proud of the team,” Richardson said. “Most of all I am very proud of myself, especially as a freshman having speech experience before but never competing in a team atmosphere, it felt great to advance in competition.”
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