Spring Speech Night May 7 in Newman Auditorium marked the conclusion of Mariah Noah and Jakob Christensen’s two-year run representing Santa Rosa Junior College Forensics.
The team finished the season as the highest nationally ranked parliamentary debate team in SRJC history, placing in the top 5 percent of all open division university and college teams.
Noah, who transfers to UC Berkeley in the fall, accumulated multiple awards during her time at SRJC, becoming the first person to finish her junior college career as a four-time gold medalist in state and national competitions.
Christensen, who transfers to the University of Nevada, Reno in the fall, captured a gold medal in parliamentary debate with teammate Noah during the Phi Rho Pi National Community College Championships in speech and debate.
Co-Directors of Forensics Hal Sanford and Marina Whitchurch accompanied the team to Spring Speech night.
Student Taylor Dawson first introduced SRJC Forensics student Billy Oertel to perform an impromptu speech, then asked the audience to yell out song titles, to which one member responded “Free Bird!”
Oertel stunned the audience with a delightfully impromptu speech that covered points such as the song’s popularity.
“The song is about freedom and the fact that it’s so popular really demonstrates that freedom, the love of freedom, is an extremely powerful force in our society and our culture,” Oertel said.
Noah flawlessly performed a persuasive speech about intersex communities, describing the difficulties intersex females and males face in society and how others can help to ease these difficulties.
“The main reason I wrote this speech was to increase awareness about intersexuality and therefore acceptance,” Noah said. “So go ahead and tell your friends, family and neighbors about this issue. Make sure people know it’s going on and that they know it’s OK to talk about.”
Poised throughout her speech, Noah said her confidence derives from family and school.
“My dad’s a lawyer so it’s kind of always been something that I do. I also did it [speech] for four years in high school so I’ve gotten very used to being in front of crowds,” Noah said.
Guest speaker, San Francisco State’s Natalie Meany, followed with poetry interpretation, using various personas in the poem to evoke the presence of different characters. Meany delivered an entertaining and powerful speech on keeping education alive outside of school.
“When opportunity doesn’t come knocking, you’re going to have to build yourself a door. Because education is not received, it is achieved, and I believe that it begins when you are born and it doesn’t end until you are six feet under this earth,” Meany said.
Next, teammates Noah and Christensen debated against Oertel and Anson O’Rourke Sargent. The four students sat at a table as Sanford read the rules and topic of the debate. He instructed them to argue for or against the right of employers to view an employee’s Facebook page or other social media accounts.
Noah and Christensen argued for the rights of employers, debating that a typical background check does not possess the crucial information needed to decide whether or not to hire a person. Oertel and Sargent countered the argument, stating that liability and discrimination issues can result from an employer viewing an employees’ social media.
Student Macy McClung followed the debate with an oral interpretation on the hardships faced by women who can never become biological mothers. McClung invoked many emotions in her speech, where she took on the persona of a woman who could not have children.
“People don’t see why this is a big deal, but for me, this is a big deal because I feel like I’ve lost the meaning to my life,” McClung said. “And your voice is small, but never stop singing and when they finally hand you heartache and when they slip more hatred under your door…you tell them that they really oughtta meet your mother.”
Noah concluded the speeches with an “after-dinner” speech meant to engage the audience with a light-hearted topic. Noah spoke on sexual education and how society views the subject; a speech that entertained the audience and filled the auditorium with belly-laughing humor from Noah’s numerous sexual puns.
To conclude the night, Sanford awarded Aaron Josephs a plaque for his dedication and volunteer work with SRJC Forensics.
Sanford also awarded Noah an eagle-adorned trophy for her achievements during her triumphant years in speech and debate.