NOVA Forensics Team Successful at 1st Online Tournament of the Season!

This year, intercollegiate competitive speech, debate and acting take on a whole new look! Online synchronous virtual tournaments are the new normal due to continued threat of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the award-winning NOVA Forensics Team made the adjustments and had a successful outing at the first online tournament of the year!

On Saturday, Nov. 14, members of the team competed at the Southern and Northern Atlantic Forensics Union (SNAFU) Charity Ball! The online tournament, featuring competition in debate, public speaking and dynamic literature performance, drew tough competition from George Mason University, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, Nassau Community College, Bowling Green State University, Seton Hall University, Lafayette College, Emerson College, Cornell University, University of Northern Iowa, Lonestar College – North Harris (TX), College of Central Florida, Bradley University, Hofstra University and, of course, NOVA.

The NOVA Forensics Team did well in their first debut tournament of the season. Leah Ican (WO), took 5th place in Programmed Oral Interpretation with an engaging performance about the best ways to educate others about breast cancer. Layan Abdalla (AL) took 7th place in Persuasive Speaking with a powerful speech about the perceptions of vaccines in the Black community due to mistrust of vaccines because of such historical tragedies as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment of 1932. Courtney Petko (AN) delivered a dramatic Prose performance about a teacher impacted by a school shooting and Cara Martinez’s (AL) dramatic Prose performance on depression during the holidays both came very close to advancing to the final round! Other students on the team worked hard and the entire team looks forward to the next competition!

The NOVA Forensics Team is directed by Dr. Nathan Carter (AL), with significant help from Professor Amy Hileman (LO) and Professor Jeremy Hodgson (AL), who serve as assistant directors and coaches of the team. NOVA alumni student coaches Brigitte Chavez and Roma Diseati also meet with students weekly to help them prepare events. The team has online meetings every Friday.

Virtual tournaments would not be possible without hard working faculty members who are willing to donate their time on Saturday to serve as judges for the live online competitions. Special thanks to the following NOVA faculty members who have served as judges this season: Lucy Holsonbake (AL), Dr. Lisa Eckstein (AL) and Kush Jenkins (LO).

The NOVA Forensics Team is open to students across our various campuses. Students who make it through a rigorous tryout process, work with coaches to write speeches, learn about debate or rehearse engaging dramatic or poetic performances that touch on a variety of culturally- and socially-significant issues in our world. The NOVA Forensics Team will attend several more online tournaments this fall and spring on their road to the Phi Rho Pi National Tournament in April. If you have any questions about the team, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Nathan Carter, nacarter@nvcc.edu.