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Cassidy Reller ’16 (Fremont, Neb.) took home a state championship in impromptu speaking during the Pennsylvania Forensic Association’s annual tournament Feb. 15-16 at Bloomsburg University.

Cassidy Reller ’16 gives an extemporaneous speech.

Cassidy Reller ’16 won a state championship in impromptu speaking.

The Forensics Society placed second overall and is preparing to compete in the National Forensics Association’s national tournament April 18-21 at Eastern Michigan University.

The College has excelled on the national level, placing second last year in the Lincoln Douglas debate portion of the tournament. In 2009, the team was the national champion in Division III speech, and in 2010, the team took second place in both the debate and Division III speech portions.

Reller, a government and law major, also placed second in extemporaneous speaking and third in persuasion at the state tournament. Last year he was novice national champion in extemporaneous speaking at the Novice National Intercollegiate Forensics Tournament at Berry College in Rome, Ga.

Kaitlin Kinsella ’17 (Wilmington, Mass.) placed second in persuasion and won a bid to the Interstate Oratorical Association tournament April 25-26 at James Madison University in Virginia. The tournament is the oldest oratorical contest in the United States and the speeches are published in the book Winning Orations.

Last year, Lafayette had three state champions: Sharon Chen ’15 (Tenafly, N.J.) in rhetorical criticism, Ryan Raesly ’15 (Nazareth, Pa.) in extemporaneous speaking, and Luke Wasacz ’16 in prose interpretation. Chen has been elected to be the student representative to the association, and Scott Placke, director of forensics, serves as president. The College will host the state tournament in February 2015.

“I am very proud of the team’s success,” says Placke. “The students worked very hard for all of their accolades.”

Categorized in: News and Features

1 Comment

  1. Mary Reller says:

    We are cousins of Cassidy Reller. We live in Washington State and follow him through his family online. We want to share our pride in this awesome young man and look forward to seeing his growth and progress. So fortunate to have you in our extended family, Cassidy, you are definetly adding class to the family tree!

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