Speech / Forensics Team

Forensics (competitive speech and debate) at Ferris has two branches: the Debate team and the Speech/Forensics (individual events) team. In 1960, Ferris became a chartered member of Pi Kappa Delta national forensics honorary. Since our chartering, two Ferris coaches have served as president of the national organization: Gary Horn in 1985–1987 and Sandra Alspach in 2005–2007.

The Speech/Forensics team travels to intercollegiate tournaments and to the annual national Pi Kappa Delta tournament.

Ferris Speech/Forensics team members come from programs including Communication, Computer Information Systems, Political Science and Pharmacy. The only requirements to join the team are a love for public speaking and performance, the willingness to research and prepare material independently with a coach's guidance and a 2.5 GPA.

Currently the coaches for the team are Kristi Scholten, who coaches public-address and limited-preparation events and Cami Sanderson, who coaches interpretation events. Other members of the Communication faculty and the Ferris community volunteer their time and expertise to coach and judge for Ferris speakers.