Michael Blasie '07

Clark Division - 2007 Public Speaking Competition

So a few weeks ago the mock trial team headed over to Syracuse to compete in our Regional Championships. Now the judges do not know what schools we are from while we compete, to ensure impartiality. After the second-round ballots were turned in, the judges asked us where we were from. Naturally we responded, "Oh, we're from Hamilton College," to which a judge responded "Hamilton.... Nice!" Then he turned to the other team and asked, "So where are you from?" to which they responded, "We are from Brown University," to which the judge replied, "Brown.... Where's that?" That's what I'm talking about! Get your Ivy League butt out of here because Hamilton is where it is at!

Now I also feel obligated to tell you that during the first round of that same competition, Hamilton got out the broom and swept some punk scrub team from Boston. I don't even remember their name, but it was something with an "H." Their name did not warrant the brain space in my memory banks.

We ended up qualifying for the national championship for the first time in the team's history. On the way home, Queen's "We are the Champions" fittingly came over the radio and we sang along. We were all shouting "Hamilton" and pumping our fists. It was amazing. And it is this moment that I will focus my speech on. Not this event per se, but rather this snapshot in time, specifically the emotions and feelings present in that car ride home.

You see, knowing what I know today, of course there are many things that I would do differently at Hamilton College if I could start over again. I could correct virtually every mistake I have made and regret that I have. I would know what classes to take and which ones to avoid. I could choose to take advantage of more opportunities like studying abroad or taking a wider distribution of classes. I could even say that I would join more clubs, perhaps by going out on a limb and joining the rugby team. This last thought is particularly poignant, as of all the sporting events I have attended this one looks like the most fun ... at least until someone gets hit, that is. Taking advantage of already offered opportunities and correcting mistakes, however, is what virtually every Hamilton student would do if they could go back. Plus, I can make up for all these things later on in life. I am still free to travel the world, take more classes or reads books in certain disciplines, and yes, perhaps I someday I will even partake in a community rugby league ... or at least a flag football league.

Rather than focus on these common answers, which are an inevitable result of a lack of knowledge and a finite amount of time, knowing what I know today I would go back and strive to achieve something that I have observed Hamilton to be severely lacking in. It is something that I could only achieve as a student and cannot compensate for as an adult. It is something that would also leave its mark on the Hamilton College community for decades to come. Simply put, I would strive to bring school spirit to Hamilton College.

I have developed a two-pronged assault to establish this mindset. First and foremost, I would create and found a factor that is vital to school spirit and unity: the creation of a rival. Currently Hamilton has no rival school. Colgate is somewhat like a rival but is actually closer to being a sister school. It is Division I, so we never play them in athletics; it is larger than us and is actually not all that similar. We just tend to not like it because we are often grouped with it, but cooperating with Colgate works to our advantage in many regards, so we would not want to make them our rival. Also, none of the other NESCAC schools are worthy of being our rivals because we have no history of conflict with them and because they are undeniably weaker and vastly inferior in every way, shape and form.

Thus, I propose the assignment of a new rival, one that is cunning, one that we have a history of conflict with, and one that can rise to our level and provide a true challenge for the superior race that is the Hamilton College student body. I would choose none other than the University of Virginia. They may think they are tough stuff with their thirteen-thousand-strong student body, the titan-like dominance of their Division I sports teams, and their national recognition and pre-eminent status, but let us see how those Virginian Cavaliers, who draw their swords as they ride into battle, can handle a musket ball to the face from a Continental soldier.

They are the perfect rival for several reasons. Primarily, the history of conflict stems from UVA's founder, who is none other than the despicable, scoundrelous, pudgy slave driver we all know as Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton's ideological rival and intellectual inferior. Hamilton and Jefferson hated one another, and so we shall finish the epic battle between them by continuously reminding UVA, Jefferson's lineage, that they are inferior to us Hamiltonians. As additional advantages, we know that we have the element of surprise because there is a good chance that most people at UVA have never heard of Hamilton. As our final advantage, given the size and resources of UVA in comparison to Hamilton, we would clearly be the underdog, and everyone knows that America loves rooting for the underdog. A rival fosters strong bonds of unity and hence spirit because everyone is rooting for the same team and against the same team.