Convocation Highlight: Forensics
A look back at the performances delivered at the Bethel College's Forensics Convocation
Among the list of graduation requirements for students at Bethel College is a course entitled convocation. The Oxford Dictionary defines convocation as the action of calling people together for a large formal assembly. This is precisely what the Bethel Convocation, commonly called convo, is. Convo topics can be chemistry, a brief history lesson, programs in the community such as the Big Brother Big Sister program, and environmental issues, but a favorite of the student body is the forensics convocation.
Bethel is known for having a large number of student-athletes in its student body, however, the school also has many other extracurricular activities for individuals to enjoy, one of which is forensics. This particular form of forensics is not the type that you might see on criminal minds but instead is a form of speech and debate.
Emil Benavides performed what is called an after-dinner speech in which the intent is to bring light to a topic in a light-hearted manner. Emil discussed the topic of online dating whilst entertaining the audience with both communicative and physical humor. She told us that Tinder brings in $5.32 billion in revenue and that one subscription package for Tinder costs a raging $500 a month.
The second speaker, Tristan England, chose to compete with an impromptu speech. This is when the speaker is not given their quote until they walk on stage and read it. They then have anywhere from 1-3 minutes to prepare a speech that is the length of 5-8 minutes (depending on the tournament). Tristan’s speech was incredibly impressive, and despite tight time regiments, he was able to use topics such as Robert Lissten (famous for having the most deaths in single surgery), Hitchbot, which is a hitchhiking robot, and World War 2 Great Britain, to defend his quote.
The final speaker was Lucy Buller, and her speech format was program oral interpretation, this means taking a multitude of media forms from a couple of different genres, most commonly poetry or drama, that have a shared theme. Lucy’s topic was self-harm and religious trauma; she shared a lot about the things she had endured in her childhood as well as her relationship with God.
All of these speeches were incredibly impressive. The Bethel College forensics team has been to the forensics national tournament every year since 1978. This year is no different, and the speeches performed at convocation are likely to be performed when the team attends this year.