The University of Texas Speech Team travelled to Athens, Ohio, for the National Forensics Association national contest, hosted by Ohio University from April 19-23, 2012. Following up on a phenomenal AFA performance, the team also had its best performance to date at the NFA contest.
While historically, the University of Texas has been primarily associated with the American Forensic Association, Texas Speech first attended the NFA tournament in 2004, with student Ben Robin representing the University of Texas there for the first time in honor of the late Eddie Myers, previously the tournament director for the NFA and a great friend of the UT Speech Program. Attending the tournament by himself, Ben was recognized by winning first place in the President’s Division III small schools sweepstakes. Since that first visit, UT students have been awarded national titles 7 times at the contest, with UT Senior William Igbokwe as the recipient of the 2012 national title in Persuasive Speaking.
A complete list of awards for 2012 is included below:
3rd place Open Division Sweepstakes
National Champion, Persuasive Speaking: William Igbokwe
12th place Pentath (Overall Speaker): Christy Liu
National Finalists:
6th place, Prose Interpretation: Melissa Lamb
4th place, Editorial Impromptu: Kevin Chiu
5th place, After Dinner Speaking: William Igbokwe
3rd place, Rhetorical Criticism: Christy Liu
6th place, Informative Speaking: Kile Akerman
National Semi-Finalists (top 12 nationally):
Kile Akerman, Prose Interpretation
William Igbokwe, Extemporaneous Speaking
Christy Liu, Extemporaneous Speaking
Nathan Rarick, After Dinner Speaking
Kevin Giffin, Dramatic Interpretation
Kile Akerman, Persuasive Speaking
Christy Liu, Informative Speaking
Christy Liu, Impromptu Speaking
National Quarter-Finalists (top 24 nationally):
William Igbokwe, Impromptu Speaking
Matt King, Informative Speaking
Kile Akerman, Dramatic Interpretation
Taylor Adams, Prose Interpretation
Austin Witherspoon, Prose Interpretation
David Wang, Extemporaneous Speaking
Jaime Garcia, Extemporaneous Speaking
Daniel Hatoum, Extemporaneous Speaking
Nathan Rarick, Informative Speaking
Jaime Garcia, Impromptu Speaking
Alex Hatoum, Impromptu Speaking
Melissa Lamb & Jeremy Vandermause, Duo Interpretation