April 12, 2001

WKU To Host National Forensics Tournament
Next Week

Bowling Green, Ky. - More than 1,500 people from nearly 200 schools will be on the Western Kentucky University campus next week for the nation's largest speech and debate tournament.

If last year's National Forensics Association tournament is any indication, the April 19-23 event will have an enormous impact on Bowling Green's economy, said Judy Woodring, director of WKU's William E. Bivin Forensic Society.

In 2000, a sampling of motels and restaurants in Athens, Ohio, estimated the NFA tournament generated well over $1 million in revenue for that community, Woodring said.

"We've gotten good support from local businesses, hotels and motels, the WKU Foundation and the University," Woodring said.

"The forensics tournaments are extremely important to this university," she said. "For example, the High School Speech League Tournament brings 800 to 1,000 of Kentucky's best students on this campus for two days. It's a tremendous recruiting tool."

The national tournament will provide a recruitment opportunity for Western's graduate programs because "the brightest and the best students will be at the NFA tournament," Woodring said.

The NFA tournament features debate competition and individual competition in 11 speech events. Western students are qualified for national competition in each event with 69 overall entries.

"We're practicing hard and putting in long days preparing for the tournament," Woodring said. Last year, Western finished fifth in individual events and third in debate.

Garrett Conference Center will serve as tournament headquarters, but events will be held across Western's campus from Cherry Hall to Tate Page Hall. The April 19 opening ceremony will be held in Van Meter Auditorium.

"The schedule is grueling for participants," Woodring said. "They go nonstop from early in the morning to late in the evening."

Western's tradition of success in forensics helped the school secure the bid for hosting this year's national tournament, Woodring said. "The reputation and the quality of the program are the top considerations," she said.

Earlier this year Western won its third consecutive International Forensics Association championship; won the National Lincoln Douglas Debate Championship and finished second in individual events sweepstakes at the Delta Sigma Rho National Tournament; and won its eighth consecutive Kentucky Forensics Association championship.

For more information, contact Judy Woodring at (270) 745-6340. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.