Iowa Wesleyan College - Croaker Yearbook (Mount Pleasant, IA)

Page 154 text:

©ratorp The mere mention of oratory in the state of Iowa brings to one’s mind immediately Iowa Wesleyan College. Her record in oratory is yet to be equaled by any of the sixteen colleges of the state. In the last four years Wesleyan orators have not been lower than fourth place. Two firsts, a second and one fourth in a student generation is a record that any college in the state might well boast of. The fact that Wesleyan has always ranked well toward the top in state contests is not to be attributed to shear luck. The laws of probabilities would have decreed long ago that wc step aside for a time and permit other schools to claim the honors. The reason that Wesleyan leads the state in oratory is because Wesleyan makes orators. The present head of the department of expression is directly responsible for the recent victories of Wesleyan’s representatives on the platform. She is a graduate of Wesleyan and of the Columbia School of Expression, Chicago. It is seldom that a woman can train a man in art of oratory with any marked degree of success, but Miss Ingersoll has proved the exception to the rule and from seemingly impossible orators has developed men who ranked among the highest in the state. Her method of instruction is direct and forceful; she demands that the speaker be intensely in earnest about his subject, that he present it in a clear, concise manner. In addition to the annual try-out for the state oratorical contest, Freshmen and Sophomore oratorical contests arc held each spring. Only those who have taken work in either the Freshman or Sophomore oratory classes are eligible for these contests. This year thirty Freshmen have signified their willingness to enter the Freshman contest, and sixteen Sophomores will take part in the Sophomore struggle. Last year Glen Frye was awarded first place among the Freshmen and Dave Armbruster second place. The contest was very close, and several other contestants were dangerously near the winners. No winners were picked in the Sophomore contest last spring. The contest took on the form of an elimination and it was thought best to do away with the judging. The Sophomore oratory banquet in the spring is one of the big functions of the college year. MISS INGERSOLL

Page 153 text:

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Page 155 text:

 ERMIL FRYE Although not a simon-pure product of Iowa Wesleyan’s department of oratory, Frye secured a sufficient amount of his training here to warrant us in taking the credit for his splendid record at the state contest. His debating experience and his platform ability make him well fitted as a college orator. His oration, “The Spirit of the True Republic,” was logically and clearly developed. He pointed out the weaknesses in the American government and offered a solution for them. The ballot, he declared, was the means by which the government of the United States was to be kept pure and true to the ideals of its founders.