WKU Forensics Team

30 years of winning national championships. Starting in 1996 with the team's first national championship in Lincoln-Douglas debate, the WKU Forensics team has not only been using their words in competition; their words are shaping their futures. “Speech has given me the amazing tools to connect with people,” said junior Jade Ismail. “I can do anything now. It was thanks to WKU, and it was thanks to forensics, that I can say that I feel confident in the person I am and the next journey I have.” Ismail placed third in the top 10 individual sweepstakes awards at the Asynchronous Speech Championship in April. Ismail was also first in Informative Speaking and Prose Interpretation, amongst other semifinalist recognitions. Competition categories such as Dramatic Interpretation allow students like freshman Victory Okoroji, to research topics of interest and write remarks that allow them to speak on topics important to them. “The reason why I chose law is because speech planted a seed of advocacy in me,” Okoroji said. Okoroji was a semifinalist recently at the Asynchronous Speech Championship and placed second in Duo Interpretation with Somtoo Nkurumeh. Also in April, Vaden Kumar earned national runner-up at the National Forensics Association National Championship Tournament. At the event, WKU Forensics was named sweepstakes champion. In debate, Kumar, a freshman, is told whether to present for or against a topic and has minimal time to prepare his speech. With such a challenging and competitive area, Kumar feels supported in reaching his goals. “Coming to a college where there’s so many different people who have the same goal of succeeding and so many dedicated coaches who want to see nothing more but for us to strive as individuals both in and out of debate has just been great honestly,” he said. Recently, WKU Forensics moved into its space at the new Tim and Sarah Ford Fieldhouse. Complete with staff offices, meeting rooms, and practice spaces, the team looks forward to growing the program and championships.