Speaking Contest Winners Announced

Fairmont State University announces that the winners of the annual M.M. Neely Persuasive Speaking Contest are students Jon Pollock, first place, $500; Becca Muter, second place, $300; and Seanna Keefe, third place, $200.

Pollock is a Speech Communication senior and a graduate of Tucker County High School. His speech topic was "Elderly Abuse and Neglect in Our Nation's Nursing Homes." Muter is a junior Communication and Theatre double major and a graduate of Preston County High School. Her speech topic was "Severe Obstructive Apnea Syndrome." Keefe is a junior Communication major and a graduate of Parkersburg South High School. Her speech topic was "Comprehensive Sex Education."

The contest was begun in the 1930s at Fairmont State and Salem College by the former U.S. senator and governor of West Virginia, Mathew Mansfield Neely. As a politician, he fought for cancer research, child labor regulation and other similar reforms. A most celebrated and controversial politician, Neely, who was also quite adept at public speaking, saw the contest as a way to encourage students to speak up for their beliefs as he had in support of his deeply-held convictions.

Now, almost 70 years later, Neely's heirs, specifically his daughter, Corrine Neely Pettit, have endowed the contest in perpetuity. In addition to this contest, the Neely family has shown its commitment to speech education at Fairmont State by providing monies for numerous scholarships to students who major or minor in Speech Communication.

The contest was open to all full-time Fairmont State students who met the contest's requirements. Participants presented an 8-10 minute persuasive problem analysis based upon extensive research. The students were judged on composition (quality of script) and the delivery or effectiveness of the presentation.