UVA vs. Georgetown Oratory Competition Faceoff

On Friday, March 20, UVA and Georgetown will compete against one another in the Inaugural Oratory Competition Face-Off. Eight student orators, four from each university, will contend for a grand prize by delivering original five-minute speeches that answer the prompt: “Describe an event from American history and explain how it illustrates a founding principle of the Declaration of Independence.”

Both universities held internal competitions in the fall; four undergraduate finalists from each school responded to the same prompt (as seen above) on the same day. The rich storytelling, diversity of thought, and historical insight made both competitions a tremendous success. Individual winners were selected at each school, but the previously winning speeches will have no bearing on this competition. Now, the eight student orators will compete against one another for the first time in the UVA versus Georgetown Oratory Competition Face-Off. There can be only one winner!