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Goshen College

Students to deliver speeches in annual C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest Feb. 18

February 6, 2020

Event: C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest
Date and time: Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Umble Center
Cost: Free and open to the public
*This event will be livestreamed

Jazmine Macias
Jazmine Macias

Five Goshen College students will present speeches during the 2020 C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The annual event will take place at 7 p.m. in the Umble Center and is free and open to the public.

Jace Longenecker
Jace Longenecker

This year’s participants and their topics are:

Ronit Goswami
Ronit Goswami

Jazmine Macias, a junior biology major from West Covina, California, will deliver a speech titled “Fermented Pain: Living With an Alcoholic”

Mandira Panta
Mandira Panta

Jace Longenecker, a senior history major from South Bend, Indiana, will deliver a speech titled “Anabaptist History and the Climate Crisis”

Nasim Rasoulipour
Nasim Rasoulipour

Ronit Goswami, a sophomore exercise science major from Goshen, will deliver a speech titled “Finding Peace in the Trenches: The War on Homelessness”

Mandira Panta, a senior sustainability studies major from Bhaktapur, Nepal, will deliver a speech titled “The World Is Burning”

Nasim Rasoulipour, a senior interdisciplinary studies major from Tehran, Iran, will deliver a speech titled “Two Paths Converged in 2016: My Life With Donald Trump”

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

Judges include:
  • Allan Kauffman, a  1971 Goshen College graduate who served nearly two decades as mayor of the city of Goshen;
  • Adrienne Nesbitt, a 2008 Goshen College graduate with degrees in music and theater, and event coordinator for Eyedart Creative Studio
  • Dr. Regina Shands Stoltzfus, chair of the Department of Bible, religion and PJCS at Goshen College.

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