While most students were away over the summer, changes were occurring on “The Hill”. One of those was a reduction in the Forensic Team’s budget. Students utilized social media as a method to get information out to others who were unaware of what was happening.

There were heated Facebook posts, rumors circulating and much confusion about what was actually going on.

Senior Forensics Team member Emily Meyer explained that everyone is an emotional human being.

“When something that you are so personally invested in gets diminished in some ways it starts to feel like it’s a personal diminishment,” Meyer said.

A lot of the anger, Meyer reasoned, came about because people took the team’s loss as a personal loss.

Changes started when the Director of Forensics unexpectedly announced his resignation in late spring. A budget cut on top of a change in coaching staff escalated the situation. The Board of Directors ultimately approved these budget decisions after recommendations from the budget committee, which is made up of representatives from all levels of campus.

“We had a modest but significant reduction in the college funding for forensics program as we warped through some of the challenges that we had in budgets,” President Bergman said.

Left without a coach and facing an ambivalent future the Forensics Team needed someone with experience who was willing to step in quickly.

Phil Voight, an Associate Professor in Communication Studies, served as Director of Forensics from 1990 until 2007 and agreed to serve as Director of Forensics once again.

Meyer described her new coach as enthusiastic and said the team is very excited to work with him.

“As we worked through some of the philosophies around forensics we decided to steer it in a slightly different direction. That had to do largely with bringing more of our philosophy around the liberal arts perspective to forensics,” President Bergman said.

“The feedback we’ve got from a fair number of faculty in the past was that students on the forensics team had too many demands too much travel time away and how does that fit with the liberal arts?” Provost Mark Braun said.

Students were required to compete at a certain amount of competitions in order to keep their scholarship. The new philosophy being created will be more consistent with the liberal arts ideas and the “Gustie Way”.

This season will be different from previous years.

“There comes a point when you have to stop missing what was and start working with what is,” Meyer said. “I’ve just kind of reached that point and the rest of us have as well.”

Meyer pointed out the team still has the opportunity to compete and they are grateful for that. Meyer had a very successful season last year ranking as one of the top twelve orators in the country. Her goal for her final year is to help establish stability.

“I want our team to be in a place where we aren’t worried about loss anymore. I’d like to convince Gustavus, both the student body and the administration that we are a program worth having,” Meyer said.

President Bergman believed the Forensics Team is an excellent program at Gustavus.

“It’s an excellent program and changes in a program don’t mean that we will compromise excellence. Change just gives us a new perspective on how to achieve excellence,” President Bergman said.

One of the changes will be reviving the team’s name ‘Evan Anderson Forum’.

“Trust. Speak. Fight” is the team’s motto and will help students as they navigate a difficult year full of changes. Several members have tattoos incorporating some or all of those words. Meyer explained the motto originated from posters hanging in the Forensics room in Beck: “Speech taught me to trust, speech taught me to speak up and speech taught me to fight.”

“It’s an excellent program and changes in a program don’t mean that we will compromise excellence.”

—President Bergman

A reduction in budget did not eliminate all competitions the team will travel too. The tentative schedule plans for six or seven overnight tournaments and ten to twelve local tournaments.

Director Voight claims any student who wants to try speech or debate can get to at least fourteen tournaments. Pi Kappa Delta will be the national tournament the team competes at later in the year.

Along with the debate and speech competitions the team will participate in, Director Voight has some new ideas he wants to bring to campus.

“Because it’s a presidential election year we are going to try and have a contest for citizens, alumni, students even high school students to do a very short five minute speech in public on the topic Resolve: The Next President of the United States should be ___”.

Director Voight also wants to implement oratory contests in languages such as Vietnamese or Spanish. The languages will change each year to highlight different perspectives at Gustavus. There will be a new emphasis placed on multicultural awareness and an effort to make connections beyond “The Hill”. This comes at a great time as the first-year class has the largest number of international students in the school’s history.

“Gustavus is a place where you can compete at a high level and still have a complete and well rounded liberal arts experience… [and] participating in forensics won’t preclude you from being in other activities and from prioritizing your studies”.

Braun concluded with reminding Gustavus that we are community and if people are critical of himself, Phil Voight or other people involved to be respectful.
Braun addressed those students who have left Gustavus because of the budget cut.

“We’ve heard they have gone to some good forensics programs. We wish them well”.

President Bergman is excited to see the new team’s dynamic. The new direction is up to the team and their director to explore for themselves.

“It’s theirs to uncover and discover,” President Bergman said.

This year is a crucial turning point in the team’s history. As they evolve into a role that allows them to influence others beyond Gustavus while returning to their liberal arts roots, they will lay the foundation for what the future team will be.