posted Mar 5, 2018, 5:16 AM by Bobby Clark
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updated Nov 29, 2018, 7:22 AM
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Greenville, South Carolina - The Alpha Phi Alpha Greenville Foundation was proud to continue is our 10-year partnership with Furman University to promote oratorical skills with High School Students in Greenville County, with the Joseph Vaughn Oratorical Contestant. (JVOC).
Since 2008, AGF has sponsored the Joseph Vaughn Oratorial Competition and this year we had five finalists compete in the event which was held at Springfield Baptist Church, on McBee Avenue in Greenville South Carolina.
This year's five finalists were as follows:
| Zharia Anderson
Legacy Charter High School
10th Grade
Cole Dawson
Riverside High School
10th Grade |
Amanda Harris
J.L. Mann High School
12th Grade
|
Asha Marie
Larson-Baldwin
Wad Hampton High School
12th Grade
Bobbye Webb
Eastside High School
12th Grade
|
The contestants spoke on this year's theme, " The Next Civil Rights Movements: What Direction Should It take?", with 4-7 minute speeches and were evaluated by a panel of three judges on the following areas: Content, Delivery, and Language. All the finalist gave outstanding speeches. However, the results of our competition were as follows:
| 1st Place |
Amanda Harris |
| 2nd Place |
Asha Marie Larson-Baldwin |
| 3rd Place |
Zharia Anderson |
Prizes were 1st place, $450, 2nd place, $250, and third place, $150. All other finalists received a certificate and participation prize.
This competition is named in a honor of Mr. Joseph Vaughn, the first African-American student enrolled at Furman in 1965. Vaughn was a Greenville native and member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and was well known for his language and oratory skills. "He was a person who knew the English language and how to use it," said Chandra Dillard, Director of Community Relations at Furman. "You would often need to refer to a dictionary after hearing his speeches". Furman University commemorating 50 years of campus desegregation.
Community volunteers served as judges and Upsilon Alpha Chapter, the local College Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha at USC Upstate had roles as presiding host and tabulator during the event. Below are this year's winners and a list of all of the participants. Thank you to all of our contestants and their families as well as our great sponsors for the financial support they gave for this event. |
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