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A University of Maine team has trumped Ivy League schools, brought home dozens of trophies and qualified for nationals the past three years. It never quite made it.
Members haven’t given up though. The UMaine Forensics Team is making a comeback.
Better known as the speech and debate team, the group is preparing to step foot into a national arena. Although members have been qualified to compete for the past two years, funding issues have held them back.
Last month, General Student Senate allocated $600 to help the team with traveling costs.
The money will allow three team members – Joseph Moran, James Lyons and Clint Snyder – to travel to Missouri to compete against 125 other colleges with more than 1,000 competitors. The three members will participate in speech competitions. No members from UMaine qualified for the debate portion.
“We’re still growing and developing as a team. We wanted to make sure we were ready,” said Steven Moran, the team’s advisor.
The competition will be held at Drury University and Missouri State University – an entire day’s drive away.
They will be accompanied by Steve Moran, Joe Moran’s older brother. Steve Moran started the team as an undergraduate three years ago. He is now the graduate assistant for Student Organizations.
It will be a marathon of an event. The four-day event starts April 16. It could be extended another day if any of the UMaine members qualify for quarter or semifinals. Because the team plans to drive, it will have to leave Orono Tuesday, April 14.
“We’ll have to take shifts driving,” Steve Moran said.
This means missing almost a week of classes – the reason four other qualified team members cannot attend.
The competition is broken into 11 categories of speech – two limited preparation, four prepared and five interpretive. Each team member is allowed to participate in a maximum of five events. The speeches are ranked on a scale from one to six and points go toward a team total.
“It’s like a track meet,” Steve Moran said.
The team will need all three members to score points to remain competitive in the event – a task that comes easy to them. Last March, they placed first in the Northeast Regional Forensics Tournament with eight members. They beat out schools including Harvard University, Suffolk University and Emerson College.
In addition to the speech, speakers are also graded on their organization, preparedness and delivery.
The Moran brothers and Lyons, all student leaders, use these skills daily. Steve Moran and Lyons have both held the office of student body president, getting plenty of time to deliver speeches to their peers and the public. Joe Moran is president of Residents on Campus.
Joe Moran will deliver an “after-dinner speech,” a humorous talk on a serious subject. His subject: shrinking alligator phalluses.
“I’m definitely nervous. It’s a huge competition,” he said.
Lyons will take a more serious approach, delivering an informative speech on the genetics of fidelity. He will also participate in two impromptu speeches, where the subject is unknown until game time.
“I am feeling good and have put a lot of work into preparation,” he stated in an e-mail.
They all speak in a tame manner, delivering their thoughts in a precise and clear way. Seated behind their various desks on campus, they inspire confidence in their speech. They always make eye contact and maintain a positive attitude.
Their friendly demeanor is key to their success. While in their office, or walking on campus, members of the UMaine community are quick to greet them.
Steve and Joe Moran were both quick to chat with passersby, asking about weekend plans and concerts.
For now, the team is preparing by practicing speeches, reading news articles and giving each other critiques. They meet once or twice a week throughout the year but recently have been meeting for up to 10 hours a week to prepare for nationals.
They work on their own or as a small group.
“It’s a lot of memorization, a lot of perfecting your delivery,” Steve Moran said.
The team also prepared by judging high school competitions. Throughout the semester, the team judges at Bangor and Orono high schools, earning practice and small cash bonuses.
They also attend five or six regional competitions a year in Boston. UMaine does not compete against any other Maine schools and must travel to Suffolk University to compete against teams such as Harvard and Emerson.
And they hold their own.
“We try to learn from the environment around us,” Joe Moran said.
A participant must take first place or place in the top half of an event if there are 13 or more competitors to qualify for national competition.
Joe Moran took three first-place titles this year. He won in the after-dinner, impromptu and duo-interpretation categories.
He was surprised by how much he enjoyed the competition.
Although he never participated in speech competitions until college, he acted in high school, making him a natural in the spotlight.
“I really didn’t think I’d enjoy it [Forensics Team] that much. But I did,” Joe Moran said.
He has seen progress in the team and finds it much more competitive than when the team started.
Both Joe Moran and Lyons have been on the team for three years, and Lyons competed for three years in high school as well.
UMaine has not had a Forensics Team this strong in decades. Steve Moran said there was a solid debate team in the ’80s, but the team fizzled out and was missing from the community until 2004. However, poor leadership and a lack of funding left the team in the dust until Steve Moran pulled it back together in the spring of 2006.
The team hopes its appearance on the national level will bring it more recognition on campus. Recruiting new members and continual funding are among their concerns.
“I have great hopes for the future, although I will only be around for one more year. We have some good, young talent now and hope to pull in some more for next year,” Lyons said.
“It’s our hope to keep the numbers going . We’re changing the perception of what speech and debate is,” Joe Moran said.
As he sat on his desk in the Wade Center, Steve Moran’s enthusiasm for the team was evident in his chatter.
“I love this. I could babble about it all day,” he said.
