UA’s speech team has returned from nationals with a top-10 finish for the 11th year in a row. The Alabama Forensics Council finished seventh place out of the top-90 forensics teams in the country. Thad Fitzpatrick and Dexter Strong also won championships for individual awards in prose and impromptu.
Alabama Forensics has been around for 70 years and has won 19 championships since then, said director Robert Imbody. This is the first year the forensics team has not been under the direction of Frank Thompson in 30 years. Coming to the team from Kansas State University, Imbody is in his first year as the director of forensics at UA.
“When the opportunity became available, I said, ‘[Alabama] is a good place to go. I’d like to go to UA and see what’s happening.’ So, I came here, and we just started trying to do the things that [Dr. Thompson had] been doing for so long … It’s been a fairly easy transition in some regards because the students are fantastic.”
Many students may not be aware of one of the best speech team’s in the country, but they are unlike any group of students on campus.
“We teach so many wonderful things,” Imbody said. “Aside from just the competitive nature of it and the winning of the trophies, I really do think of this as a co-curricular activity … our students learn to be better researchers. They learn to be better writers. They learn to be better peers and to be more collegial with the people around them. Not only are we making good competitors, we’re trying to make good people here, too.”
The team is composed of 24 students ranging from freshmen to seniors. Katerina Pena is in her first year with the team.
“I got on the team with Frank Thompson, and it has literally changed my college years,” said Pena, a sophomore majoring in advertising and public relations. “I cannot express enough how much forensics has changed everyone that has been on it, especially [with their] speaking skills.”
Erika Wade, a junior majoring in English and African American studies, said the team members are close and like a family.
“We rely heavily on supportive, constructive criticism,” Wade said. “Between constant competition and endless hours of coaching, tensions get high. But I wouldn’t make this journey with any other group of people.”
Team members put in countless hours of research, writing and practice throughout the school year. The team participates in four or five tournaments a semester and nationals in April.
Imbody credits much of the team’s success to support from university officials and faculty — interim president Judy Bonner, Dean Loy Singleton, Department chair Beth Bennett and former speech coach Mark Nelson.
“The reason that we can be so successful is because we’ve got fantastic support from the top, down,” Imbody said. “I can’t say enough about the support that they give us in every way imaginable to do the things that we do.”
Much like the athletic teams on campus, the forensics team recruits and awards students scholarships. Imbody said much of the recruiting goes on at high school competitions and student services helps with coordinating internships. However, there are students, such as Strong, who have discovered the team through word of mouth and have been great additions.
Imbody and team members have confidence that they will continue to “get better everyday” before heading to nationals again next April.
“One of my goals next is to broaden in all areas,” Pena said.
“As far as getting our faces into the public, that would be ideal, but we don’t do this for notoriety or fame,” Wade said. “We do what we do everyday for the love and passion of the activity, and we would love to share that passion with others.”
UA Forensics Council can be found on Twitter (@bamaforensics), and their website will be uploaded in the fall.
