Six prizes were awarded across three categories in the annual Public Speaking Competition on Saturday, March 3, in the Chapel. The 18 finalists were chosen after an open preliminary round held in February. Speakers’ presentations were either persuasive or informative in nature, and in one category, students were asked to address an assigned topic.
In the McKinney Prize competition, a prize is awarded to one student from each class for a 5-8 minute persuasive speech that is socially relevant and of interest to the extended Hamilton College community.
The 2012 McKinney Prize recipients and their topics are:
Class of 2012: Daniel Savage, “Citizens United’s Threat to Our Democracy.”
Class of 2013: Chip Sinton, “The Beautiful Fact of Being Human: Prismatic Identity, Social Media and the Importance of Transitional Pioneers.”
Class of 2014: Max Schnidman, “Protecting the Internet from Smooth Criminals.”
Class of 2015: Sandy Rao, “Speaking to the Heart.”
The Clark Prize competition is open to all members of the senior class and calls for participants to address an assigned topic through both written and oral presentations. This year’s topic asked seniors to identify key issues in the upcoming presidential election that would attract the largest number of voters between the ages of 18 and 25. The 2012 Clark Prize recipient is Leonard Teng ’12.
The final prize category, the Warren Wright prize in informative speaking, is open to those students who have enrolled in the college’s public speaking course. Participants also respond to questions from the audience, and their responses are included in the judges’ evaluations. The Warren Wright Prize recipient is Ephraim McDowell ’12, whose topic was “Mass Incarceration: The American Prison Boom and Its Effects.”
Prizes will be awarded to all winners on Class and Charter Day.
The Public Speaking Competition was organized by the Communication Department.
