Taylor Hanigosky
tmh004@marietta.edu
A strapped and short-staffed communications department has left the Marietta College Forensics team without a full-time coach for the 2015-16 season. In the absence of a coach, the forensics executive board has decided to place the team on an indefinite hiatus for the first time in it’s over 90-year history, according to Forensics President junior Clayton Evans.
“We believe [the hiatus] is the best way to preserve the tradition of Marietta College Forensics and protect it until it is possible to provide the team with the necessary resources,” Evans said in an official notice addressed to the Communications Department and the Student Government Association.
The Marcolian reached out to communications department faculty members for comment, but did not receive a reply at press time.
Two former forensics coaches and communications professors Tomeka Robinson, Ph.D., and Jamie Moshin, Ph.D., recently left Marietta College to pursue other opportunities. Evans cites lack of underclass student interest as one of many obstacles to finding a new full-time coach.
The hiatus coincides with the cancellation of the annual Ruth A. Wilcox Forensics Invitational Tournament, a competition among undergraduate forensics teams from the tri-state area that was held at Marietta College for 65 years.
Although the team’s presence will be missed in the Communications Department and across campus, its legacy will live on in the lives of the students impacted by the program.
“The program was a major contributor to my social transition at the college,” Evans said. “Many of the friends that I have now, I met through the team.”
While Evans has been a member of the team since his freshman year, the program has positively influenced newer team members as well. Senior Daley Buckwell competed for the first time in a tournament at Ohio University last semester. Daley was surprised to learn she had a knack for debate when she and her partner tied for first place.
“I thought, ‘okay, I’m not as bad at this as I thought I was,’” Daley said. “So, I stuck with the team and was really excited for this semester to keep improving. But now that’s not going to happen.”
While Buckwell likely won’t get the chance to compete for Marietta College again, the forensics executive board is hopeful the team can restart in the future and laid out several guidelines for reimplementation of an ideal forensics program. Among these are significant student interest and a faculty member who is willing to serve as a full-time Director of Forensics.
