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Summary of 1990 through 1999

 

1989-90 marks the start of the sole direction of Judy Woodring. The 1990 yearbook notes Woodring's thoughts on the students, "They have this big goal - they want to be national champions."1 Extant sources abound from this point on, save for 1994. Otherwise, extra photos of the forensic team--from scrap books--will accompany each annum. As an additional crumb of trivia, the early scrap books include promotional photos and programs from the Miss Western and Miss Kentucky pageants. Coach Woodring coordinated these pageants and occasionally coached contestants as a way to raise money for the forensic team.

   

Annual Subsections: 1990 - 1999

 

 

1989-90

William E. Bivin Forensic Society (front) Rachel Y. Hall, Kimberly D. Goetz, J. Toby Atkins, Andrea L. Nowling (Huguely), Larry P.A. Coy; (middle) Mindy A. Mason, E. Lee Watts, Melony A. Jones (Shemberger), Robin K. Kinman, Holly J. Morris (Baldwin); (back) Travis L. Holtrey, Dane W. Ferguson, John A. Preston, Eric D. Shoemaker, William R. Moore (asst coach); Not pictured: Katy Cecil (Blair), Andy Gowins, Danny Roos, J. Rand Huguely, and W. Greg Robertson (grad asst)

Competing in CEDA debate: (front) Rachel Y. Hall, Holly J. Morris (Baldwin), Eric D. Shoemaker; (back) Dane W. Ferguson and Travis L. Holtrey

The team placed second overall at the 17th annual KFA State, first in debate sweeps, and received four individual state championships. At the AFA NIET qualifier, the team placed third.² At the 20th annual NFA national tournament in Minnesota, WKU placed twelfth in Division II.

[Link to 1990 Results Archive]

 

Sample Album Photos (mouse-over for caption) click to enlarge

 

 

Banquet Awards

Debate: Travis L Holtrey; Interpretation: Andrea Nowling; Oratory: Melony Jones; Scholastic: Melony Jones; Service: Katy Blair; Patrick H. Vincent: Travis L Holtrey; Randall Capps: Paula Davies

 

Campus oratory

Ogden: Jill Fudge; Robinson: Paula DeVore

 

 

1990-91

William E. Bivin Forensic Society (front) Jenifur W. Tisdale, J. Toby Atkins, Rosemary L. Cundiff (Brown), E. Katy Blair (Cecil), Dianna L. Skinner (Savetman); (middle) Mindy A. Mason, Melony A. Jones (Shemberger), E. Lee Watts, Christopher Haydon Cherry, Samantha E. Whitaker; (back) Eric D. Shoemaker, Julie A. Davis, John A. Preston, Mary E. Flanagan, Sandra E. Schneider, Travis L. Holtrey; Not pictured: Michell Clark, Paula Davies, Kenny Embry, Andrea Nowling (Huguely), Danny Roos, W. Greg Robertson (vol) and Scott Stewart.

(front) Julie A. Davis, Eric D. Shoemaker, E. Lee Watts, Samantha E. Whitaker; (back) Gregory A. Butler, J. Tony Atkins, C. Chris Herzog (grad asst), Sandra M. Schneider, and Travis L. Holtrey

WKU hosted the Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha national tournament 9-11 March 1991.³

[Link to 1991 Results Archive]

 

Sample Album Photos (mouse-over for caption) click to enlarge

 

 

Banquet Awards

Debate: Travis Holtrey; Interpretation: Lee Watts; Oratory: Sandra M. Schneider; Scholastic: Julie Davis; Service: Katy Blair; Patrick H. Vincent: Sandra M. Schneider; Randall Capps: Katy Blair

 

Campus oratory

Ogden: Rebecca Kessler; Robinson: Cynthia Hudson

 

 

1991-92

William E. Bivin Forensic Society (front) E. Lee Watts, E. Katy Blair (Cecil), Janay Crabtree, Christie Christian, Samantha E. Whitaker; (middle) Jason D. Kuykendall, Ericka N. Malone, Sandra M. Schneider (grad asst), Rosemary L. Cundiff (Brown), Jody Meriweather; (back) Trey G. Barbee, Mary E. Flanagan, Melony A. Jones (Shemberger), Cory S. Hollon, Chris S. Roberts, Julie A. Davis; Not pictured: Sarah T. Cottongim, Chris Foster, Shannon Gray (Svoboda), W. Greg Robertson (vol)

State debate champs: Cory Hollon, Chris Roberts, Melony A. Jones, Samantha Whitaker, Sarah Cottongim, Shannon Gray, Julie Davis, and Greg Butler

In November 1991, alumnus J. Richard Oexmann created an endowment, awarded annually to the winner of a small "current issues" speech contest beginning in 1993. This created the third small scholarship award for the banquet.

[Link to 1992 Results Archive]

 

Sample Album Photos (mouse-over for caption) click to enlarge

 

Banquet Awards

Debate: Greg Butler; Interpretation: Janay Crabtree; Oratory: Melony A. Jones; Scholastic: Julie Davis; Service: Katy Blair; Patrick H. Vincent: Cory Hollon; Randall Capps: Katy Blair

 

Campus oratory

Ogden: Cory Hollon; Robinson: Melony A. Jones

 

 

1992-93

William E. Bivin Forensic Society (front) E. Katy Blair, Judy Woodring (director), Janay Crabtree; (middle) Woody Zorn, Sandra M. Schneider (grad asst), Julie A. Davis, Amy B. Snodgrass; (back) Chris S. Roberts, Stephen P. Gibson, Andrew J. Trippel, Eric T. Cecil, Bill Thompson; Not pictured: and Christie Christian and Ericka Malone

(front) Amy Stewart, Tojuana S. Kendall, Sarah Cottongim; (middle) Shannon Gray (Svoboda), Robert Mattingly, Christine J. Long, Melony A. Jones (Shemberger); (back) Chris Fleming, Cory S. Hollon, Adam B. Black, Christopher Walsh, Trey G. Barbee

[Link to 1993 Results Archive]

1993 marks the first NFA national championship for the team: Freshman Robert Mattingly's Lincoln-Douglas debate title.

 

Sample Album Photos (mouse-over for caption) click to enlarge

Banquet Awards

Debate: Robert Mattingly; Interpretation: Adam Black; Oratory: Melony Jones; Overall: Adam Black; Scholastic: Julie Davis; Service: Andy Tripple; Patrick H. Vincent: Bill Thompson; Randall Capps: Janay Crabtree; J. Richard Oexmann: Chris Fleming

 

Campus oratory

Ogden: Aimee Earnhart; Robinson: Amy Stewart

 

 

1993-94

William E. Bivin Forensic Society

No photographs can be confirmed to relate to the 1994 team. Roster: Trey Barbee, Adam B. Black, Chris Chandler, Janay Crabtree, Julie Davis, Chris Fleming, Tojuana S. Kendall, Robert Mattingly, Chris S. Roberts, Amy B. Snodgrass, R. Andy Spears, Amy Stewart, Bill Thompson, Aaron Whaley, Jenny Wise (Black), Matt Woods, Woody Zorn; David Almand (KHSSL), Alyssa Harvey (grad asst), Ann Grey (grad asst), and Judy Woodring (director) WKU also hosted the National Forensic Association national tournament on 14-18 April 1994.

[Link to 1994 Results Archive]

 

Banquet Awards

Debate: Robert Mattingly; Interpretation: Adam Black; Oratory: Bill Thompson; Overall: Adam Black; Scholastic: Julie Davis; Service: Andy Spears; Patrick H. Vincent: Robert Mattingly; Randall Capps: Amy Stewart; J. Richard Oexmann: Julie Davis

 

Campus oratory

Records suggest there were no Ogden nor Robinson competitions from 1994 through 1996, nor for 1998, nor 1999.

 

 

1994-95

William E. Bivin Forensic Society

Recorded roster: Korisa Ballou, Adam B. Black, Jenny Black (Wise), Chris Chandler, Janay Crabtree, Chris Deacon, Chris Fleming, Angela Hamblen, Robert Mattingly, J. Doug Mory, Chris S. Roberts, Ben Schott, Umeka Shively, Amy Sparks (Fitzpatrick), R. Andy Spears, Amy Stewart, Bill Thompson, Bill Vaovasa, Aaron Whaley, and Woody Zorn; David Almand (KHSSL) and Judy Woodring (director).

The team still competed in CEDA Debate in 1995, along with Lincoln-Douglas, but switched to the later exclusively at the end of the year. Director Woodring secured an endowment from Cora Dee Hooks, Woodring's former debate coach, after Hooks saw that Woodring had sent two students to compete at the Interstate Oratorical Contest, in Alaska.⁴ Later that school year, Director Woodring also secured an endowment for debate from Charles English of the law firm of English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley.⁵ The source claims that the team already had three such endowments and "several other annual contributions." While these archives do not seek to catalog all such endowments, that this and other endowments appear new in sources suggests that director Woodring was unusually active in raising money. Many of these endowments provided small scholarships to students of the team to at least 2017, the time of this writing.

[Link to 1995 Results Archive]

 

Sample Album Photos (mouse-over for caption) click to enlarge

 

Banquet Awards

Debate: Robert Mattingly; Interpretation: Chris Fleming; Oratory: Bill Thompson; Overall: Adam Black; Scholastic: Janay Crabtree; Service: Amy Sparks; Patrick H. Vincent: Robert Mattingly; Capps: Chris Fleming and Robert Mattingly; J. Richard Oexmann: Chris Fleming; Wlm. Bivin: Adam Black

 

 

1995-96

William E. Bivin Forensic Society (front) Robert Mattingly, Adam B. Black, Bill Thompson, and Chris Fleming; (middle) Judy Woodring (director), Korisa Ballou, Amy Sparks (Fitzpatrick), Jenny Black (nee Wise), Mike R. McDonner, Krista Knaul, R. Andy Spears, Kristin A. Pamperin (McDonner), Sarah Lawson, Alex Plocik; (back) Dr. Larry Winn (Comm Dept Head), Chris S. Roberts (grad asst), Aaron Whaley, J. Doug Mory, Chris Chandler, and Lee Watts; Not pictured: David F. Almand (KHSSL), Stephanie Cosby, Brad Pearson, Angela Plano     [Link to 1996 Results Archive] A banner year for the team's ambition, 1996 marks two additional NFA national championships for WKU: Senior Robert Mattingly reprising his Lincoln-Douglas debate championship, and seniors Adam Black and Chris Fleming winning duo interpretation.

Sample Album Photos (mouse-over for caption) click to enlarge

Banquet Awards

Debate: Robert Mattingly and Doug Mory; Interpretation: Adam Black; Oratory: Bill Thompson; Overall: Adam Black; Scholastic: Robert Mattingly; Service: Chris Fleming and Amy Sparks; Patrick H. Vincent: Bill Thompson; Randall Capps: Chris Fleming; J. Richard Oexmann: Adam Black; Wlm. Bivin: Adam Black

 

 

1996-97

William E. Bivin Forensic Society Novice nationals competitors and coaches: Kerri L. Richardson (Cheng), Josh Barker, Wesley Shirley, Chris Fleming (grad asst), Amanda K. Gibson (Sisk), Judy Woodring (director), Chris S. Roberts (grad asst), Jennifer Cloyd (Caldwell), Courtney Blankenship (Spears), J. Doug Mory, Kelly Burchell, Stephen L. Barnett, and Angela Meyer

DSR/TKA Debate national champions: R. Andy Spears, Doug Mory, Mike R. McDonner, Krista Knaul, Aaron Whaley, Kerri L. Richardson (Cheng), Amanda K. Gibson (Sisk), Kristin A. Pamperin (McDonner), and Chris S. Roberts (grad asst)

The above captioned images do not exhaust the team's roster. Those not present above are as follows: David Almand (KHSSL), Chris Chandler, Julie Robinson, Amy Sparks (now Fitzpatrick) and Lee Watts.

[Link to 1997 Results Archive]

 

Sample Album Photos (mouse-over for caption) click to enlarge

Banquet Awards

Debate: Doug Mory; First Year: Wesley Shirley, Stephen Barnett, and Kerri Richardson; Interpretation: Chris Chandler; Oratory: Wesley Shirley; Overall: Wesley Shirley and Stephen Barnett; Scholastic: Courtney Blankenship; Service: Stephen Barnett; Patrick H. Vincent: Doug Mory; Randall Capps: Doug Mory; J. Richard Oexmann: Wesley Shirley; Wlm. Bivin: Courtney Blankenship

 

Campus oratory

Ogden: Jennifer Cloyd; Robinson: Michelle Browning

 

 

1997-98

William E. Bivin Forensic Society (front) Judy Woodring (director), Emily Hearn (Sacks), Amy Jones (Timoney), Matt A. Gerbig, Josh Barker, Dee Dieckman (Mosley) and Stephen L. Barnett; (back) Kelly Burchell, Kerri L. Richardson (Cheng), Mitchell Bailey, Mike R. McDonner, J. Doug Mory, Kristin A. Pamperin (McDonner), Erica Carson, Andy Spears (grad asst), Amanda K. Gibson (Sisk), Courtney Blankenship (Spears), Jennifer Cloyd (Caldwell), Wesley Shirley, Shellei Knuckles (Price), Chris Fleming (grad asst), and Dr. Gary Ransdell (President of WKU); Not present: Mitchell Bailey, Heather Chapman, W. Greg Robertson (KHSSL), Lindsay Robinson, Brian C. Sisk, Amy Sparks, and Bridget Trame.

[Link to 1998 Results Archive]

 

Sample Album Photos (mouse-over for caption) click to enlarge

 

Banquet Awards

Debate: Doug Mory and Kristin Pamperin; First Year: Jennifer Cloyd, Matt Gerbig, and Amy Jones; Interpretation: Courtney Blankenship; Oratory: Wesley Shirley and Amy Jones; Overall: Stephen Barnett; Scholastic: Kristin Pamperin; Service: Stephen Barnett; Patrick H. Vincent: Kerri Richardson; Randall Capps: Doug Mory; J. Richard Oexmann: Wesley Shirley and Stephen Barnett; Wlm. Bivin: Kristin Pamperin

 

 

1998-99

William E. Bivin Forensic Society

Judy Woodring (director), John D. Allen, Mitchell Bailey, Josh Barker, Stephen L. Barnett, Kelly Burchell, Erica Carson, Jennifer Cloyd (Caldwell), Bernadette Cornett, Shadana Dickerson (Sultan), Miranda Eubank, Matt A. Gerbig, Amanda K. Gibson (Sisk), Ross Goodwin, Leslie Holt, Anthony Johnson, Amy Jones (Timoney), Shellei Knuckles (Price), David Laing, Jace T. Lux, Mike R. McDonner, Kristin A. Pamperin (McDonner), Jacob Peregoy, Alisa Ponananta, Kerri L. Richardson (Cheng), Martin Riggs, Julie Robinson, Wesley Shirley, Brian C. Sisk, Sarah Sparks, David Wilkins, Phillip J. Wininger

[Link to 1999 Results Archive]

 

Sample Album Photos (mouse-over for caption) click to enlarge

Banquet Awards

Debate: Mike McDonner; First Year: John Allen, Shadana Dickerson, and Jace Lux; Interpretation: Matt Gerbig; Oratory: Wesley Shirley, Stephen Barnett, and Amy Jones; Overall: Stephen Barnett; Scholastic: Kerri Richardson; Service: Stephen Barnett; Patrick H. Vincent: Stephen Barnett; Capps: Kerri Richardson; J. Richard Oexmann: Stephen Barnett and Amy Jones; Wlm. Bivin: David Laing

 

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1. 1990 Western Kentucky University Talisman, vol 67 (Clarksville, Tenn: Josten's, 1989), 152.
2. No evidence has yet been found to indicate that the team went on to compete at AFA at the University of Alabama; Eison, Sheila, coord. “WKU Forensics Society Ranks Third Overall in Competition.” Western Kentucky University NEWS. 2 February 1990.
3. "WKU Hosting National Speech and Debate Tournament." Western Kentucky University NEWS. 7 March 1991.
4. "Dee Hooks Creates Endowment for WKU Forensics." Western Kentucky University NEWS. 3 August 1994.
5. Note that the source also claims that the team retained four tuition scholarships at that time. Note also that English had been a former student of College High, an occasional faculty member, and a friend of William E. Bivin; "Charles E. English Debate Endowment Established at WKU." Western Kentucky University NEWS. 2 February 1995.

 

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