ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio University Forensics Team has something to talk about, placing eighth in the nation at the recent National Forensics Association Championship Tournament at Berry College in Rome, Ga.
In addition to the team accomplishment, several students garnered individual achievement. Sophomore Rob Barnhart earned national championship titles in extemporaneous speaking and impromptu speaking. Senior Erin Gallagher placed fourth in persuasive speaking, fifth in rhetorical criticism and sixth in informative speaking, and senior Courtney Desman advanced to the quarterfinals in poetry interpretation.
Other team members include Jessica Benson, Elizabeth Kittle, Jen Herrick, Katheryn Imbody, Julia Kindl, Brendan Meyer, Toni Dach and Dan Vela.
"I am proud to work with this talented and dedicated group of students," said forensics team coach Jerry Miller, assistant professor of interpersonal communication and director of forensics at Ohio University. "We are looking forward to next year and encourage any interested Ohio University student to take advantage of this opportunity to get involved in one of the top 10 speech and debate programs in the nation." Miller was named Forensics Educator of the Year in 2000.
Ohio University's forensics team placed sixth at the 2000 national tournament. The tradition of competitive speech and debate at Ohio University is more than 100 years old. Past participants of the program include Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson), Arsenio Hall and CNN Anchor Leon Harris.
The Ohio University School of Interpersonal Communication, part of the College of Communication, is known for its pervasive scholarly presence at the National Communication Association, its first-rate undergraduate and graduate teaching and its commitment to providing students with abundant experiences outside of the classroom.
The school's award-winning research papers and national reputation for teaching and research have brought the school recognition as one of the top doctoral programs for studying international/intercultural communication, organizational communication and instructional communication.
