Students to deliver speeches in annual C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest Feb. 21

February 8, 2023

Event: C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest
Date and time: Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.
Location: Umble Center | goshen.edu/livestream
Cost: Free and open to the public

Five Goshen College students will speak on themes of peace and justice during the 2023 C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The annual event will take place at 7 p.m. in the Umble Center and will be live-streamed to the public at goshen.edu/live.

This year’s participants and their topics are:

Daniel Eash-Scott, a junior history major from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, on “Peace Behind the Plate: Power and Humility as an Umpire.”
Jakyra Green, a junior English and education major from Elkhart, on “The Privilege of Peace.”
Mike Murrell, a junior communication major from Kettering, Ohio, on “The Pacifist Warrior.”
Augusta Nafziger, a senior writing and music major from Weyers Cave, Virginia, on “No Longer on the Same Page: How the Decline of Local News is Damaging our Democracy.”
Caleb Shenk, a junior accounting major from Goshen, on “Protesting Taxation as a Peace-Seeking Accountant.”

The participants will deliver 8- to 10-minute speeches on topics of their choosing that relate to peace and justice. The speeches will be judged on originality, integration of the topic and a peace position, and general standards of delivery.

The judges include: Gilberto Perez, Jr., vice president for student life at Goshen College; Elizabeth Miller ’06, director of the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism and assistant professor of history at Goshen College; and Malinda Berry ’96, associate professor of theology and ethics; history, theology, and ethics department chair at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana.

The C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest is a U.S./Canada Mennonite Central Committee-sponsored event. Participants compete for cash prizes provided by the trust of C. Henry Smith, a Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen and Bluffton (Ohio) colleges. The purpose of the contest is to give students the opportunity to become involved with the cause for peace and develop rhetorical skills.

Speech contests have been a tradition at Goshen College since the early 1900s. The C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest provides the opportunity for the campus community to hear about contemporary peace issues. For an archive of past winners, visit www.goshen.edu/academics/communication/annual-peace-oratorical-contest.