Support Oregon Forensics Petition

Without any prior notice or consultation with the Director of Forensics, or students in Oregon Forensics, or student government leaders who annually fund competition and instructional and travel support, or alumni, or donors, or affected communities such as high school speech and debate students and their coaches, the Dean of the Clark Honors College declared their intention to close Oregon Forensics effective September 15.

We alumni and supporters of Oregon Forensics understand the value of the life changing skills and intellectual abilities afforded by participation in forensics. Forensics helps students succeed academically, thrive individually, acquire invaluable professional skills, and broaden and deepen their abilities to positively impact our communities. Members in the Oregon Forensics Alumni Network and our friends have benefited from the opportunities that a large forensics program with experienced leadership, professional instruction, and robust competitive opportunities can provide.

Oregon Forensics helps students develop advocacy and argumentation skills, acquire the knowledge and confidence to apply those skills to enhance their academic successes as undergraduates and professional success after graduation. Working with teammates enables students to flourish and form lifelong friendships. Forensics teaches students how to collaborate effectively with people of differing views, backgrounds, and experiences, while providing the tools to do so effectively. In forensics students develop abilities and perspectives they use every day to be more successful and effective in their careers and in their lives.

Members of the Oregon Forensics Alumni Network are grateful for the institutional support that made our forensics experiences possible. We are confident our alma mater will continue to support Oregon Forensics because of its tremendous value for students and to the university in realizing its core mission. We aim to continue joining in that support.

As Oregon Forensics alumni and supporters affirm that:

Oregon Forensics should always be open to all interested students. Working with teammates from every major and every school and college across campus is a uniquely valuable intellectual and professional experience.
Students in Oregon Forensics require the leadership of an empowered and passionate Director committed to the success of all forensics students and with the experience, knowledge, and professionalism to build and sustain a leading forensics program. Programs lacking professional leadership cannot ensure the quality experience students deserve.
Students in Oregon Forensics benefit from engaging experienced and professional educators as they work to improve their performance and develop effective advocacy and argumentation skills.
Robust opportunities to interact with peers from other institutions is essential to the rigorous and enriching educational experience of collegiate forensics. Students in Oregon Forensics deserve adequate staffing support to fully realize the potential of their participation in forensics, including support for competition travel.
Members of the Oregon Forensics Alumni Network call on the administration, faculty, and students at the University of Oregon to continue their long history of support for forensics activities

For 148 years, Oregon Forensics has been a leader in the world of American collegiate and international forensics competition. Tracing our roots to societies formed weeks after the university opened its doors, Oregon has played a bigger role in collegiate forensics than any other public university, with a legacy of innovation, social impact, and academic and competitive success that is unmatched. One of the very first intercollegiate debates. The first radio debate. The Oregon Plan of Debating published in 1926 inspired cross-examination policy debate. The first world debate tour. The first televised debate. A co-founder in 2019 of the only form of college debate that is current growing.

We call on the administration, faculty, and students of Oregon to support a robust Oregon Forensics department led by a dedicated forensics scholar. Oregon Forensics should continue to offer all interested students a truly unique, and uniquely valuable, rigorous intellectual experiences that enriches their education and lays the foundation for lifelong learning and professional success.

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If you are an alum of Oregon Forensics, consider providing a short testimonial of what your experiences in forensics have meant to you.

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