Enter M.M. Neely Persuasive Speaking Contest

The Fairmont State University School of Fine Arts and the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts invite students to participate in the M.M. Neely Persuasive Speaking Contest.

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

The final round of this year's contest will be held April 28 at 7 p.m. in Multi-Media Room A of the Ruth Ann Musick Library.

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 reforms. A 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.

Today, 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 funds for numerous scholarships to students who major or minor in Speech Communication.

For more information, contact Dr. Robert E. Mild Jr. at (304) 367-4167.