By Mike Greife,
May 2, 2018
WARRENSBURG, MO – The University of Central Missouri Talking Mules speech and debate
squad recently returned from the National Forensics Association National Finals Tournament
April 18-23 at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Nine UCM students and four graduate assistants traveled to the tournament, where they
competed with students from 76 colleges and universities from across the nation..
Team captain Samantha Calloway, a junior early elementary education major, and Gavin
DePaul, a senior computer information systems major, advanced to the octo-finals,
losing on split decisions. Matthew Briggs, a freshman speech and theatre major, placed
4th in the nation in Novice Prose Interpretation, and the team placed 8th overall in Overall Debate Sweepstakes and 12th in Overall Sweepstakes, President’s Division III.
In addition to Calloway, DePaul, and Briggs, team members attending the national completion
were Tyler Slinkard, senior political science major; Manny Reyes, freshman political
science major; Trenton Hawes, freshman political science major; Madison Marquardt,
junior criminal justice major; Ally Laytham, sophomore performance studies major;
and Jaggard Williams, freshman performance studies major.
The Talking Mules is a comprehensive program that travels regionally, nationally and
internationally to represent UCM in individual forensics events and different debate
formats. The team traces its roots back to 1884 at UCM and is one of the oldest, continuously
organized intercollegiate competitive teams on campus.
