Announcing the 2013 Benjamin F. Barge and Class of 1866 Prizes for Oratory
The Institute for Writing and Rhetoric is pleased to invite entries in two historic speaking contests at Dartmouth College.
In May 2013, finalists will compete for the Benjamin F. Barge and Class of 1866 Prizes for Oratory. One senior will win the Benjamin F. Barge award, and one junior and one sophomore will win a Class of 1866 award. Each winner will receive a cash prize, and all finalists will receive certificates.
To enter the contest, students should adhere closely to the following guidelines:
- The first round will be based on a written manuscript or detailed outline of a speech designed to persuade the listeners on any topic.
- The manuscript or outline must be accompanied by a works cited/reference page, following MLA or APA format.
- All sources must also be orally cited in the speech.
- When delivered, the speech should be between 5 to 6 minutes.
- Speeches must be original works by the student.
- Visual aids are not allowed.
Entry Deadline: Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 5 pm
Preliminary Round: Thursday, April 25th, 2013, 4-5 pm
Final Competition: Tuesday, May 21st, 2013, 4:30 pm, Treasure Room, Baker Library (first floor)
Students should email their manuscript and/or detailed outline to Hope Rennie, Administrative Assistant for the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric, at Hope.W.Rennie@Dartmouth.edu by 5:00pm on Tuesday, April 16th. Please use “SPEECH CONTEST ENTRY” as your subject line. Please note your name and class year in your email entry.
Up to six students will be selected from these submissions to present their speeches before a panel of judges. Students selected for this preliminary round will be contacted by Monday, April 22nd, and will present their speeches on Thursday, April 25th, between 4-5pm. From this preliminary round, up to four students will be selected to compete in the Benjamin F. Barge and Class of 1866 contests on Tuesday, May 21st along with students who have been competitively selected from IWR Speech courses.
Past Speech Contests
2012 Speech Contest Finalists (left to right): Salman Rajput '14, Malcolm B. Leverett '14, Sebastian DeLuca '14, Rachel Abendroth '13, Ben Schifberg '13, Jeremy Kaufmann '12, David Rolla '12
2010 Benjamin F. Barge Prize for Oratory winner:
- Samantha A. Mandel, Class of 2010, speech title: "Autism and Autism Advocacy Organizations"
May 19, 2011 speech competition program (PDF)
2011 Benjamin F. Barge Prize for Oratory winner:
- Michelle Luo, Class of 2011, speech title: "Facebook Privacy"
2011 Class of 1866 Prize for Oratory winners:
- Laura Kier, Class of 2012, speech title: "A Tradition of Change: Coeducation at Dartmouth"
- Christopher Rhoades, Class of 2013, speech title: "Energy Drinks and Alcohol: A Risky Combination"
May 17, 2012 speech competition program (PDF)
2012 Benjamin F. Barge Prize for Oratory winner:
- Jeremy Kaufmann, Class of 2012, speech title: "New York's Justice Courts: A Disturbing Oxymoron"
2012 Class of 1866 Prize for Oratory winners:
- Rachel Abendroth, Class of 2013, speech title: "Applied Behavioral Analysis: Are We Missing the IDEA?"
- Sebastian DeLuca, Class of 2014, speech title: "Humanizing Organizations with Social Media"
