Strategem

2010
My Main Man
By Jason Waltman
Bobby Joe Waltman passed away three days before his grandson presented this speech in his honor at the NU Faith in the Humanities Conference. The commemorative speech was part of an advanced public speaking class.
More

An Iron Curtain Now Falls:
Winston Churchill Warns West of Communist Threat
By Wyatt Chinn
Containing one of the most memorable of all rhetoric devices, the “iron curtain” speech described the global controversy between two of the world’s greatest political ideologies that lasted to the end of the twentieth century. MORE

Pericles Praises the Heroes:
Democracy is Worth Fighting For
By Seth Bridges

By drawing the people’s attention to the good life they have, and making them feel that they could be in danger of losing it, he creates the desire to unite against a common threat. MORE

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2009

Fight the Good Fight
2009 Student Commencement Speech by Alex Croutworst

They say that True education is not filling a bucket, but setting a fire. We have been warmed by the fire of intellectual curiosity — and we know that that flame will never die out.” More

A Bone for Pedro
A commemorative speech by Danielle Diamond

Pedro saw my family in the best possible light — there’s the saying: “I only wish I was as good as my dog thinks I am.” More

I Wanna Be a Rock Star
A spiritual devotion by Gary Gillespie

Throughout the centuries great thinkers have sought to discover what is the highest good. This was one of the big questions of Greek philosophy. What is the summum bonum of life? More

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2008
Barbara Bush Wellesley College Commencement Speech
Analysis by Kellyn Muller

Apparently, many of the students felt Bush was not a proper role model. They felt Bush was not the career oriented
woman the Wellesley College graduates were aspiring to be and that she was asked to give the address merely
because she was the wife of an important man. One-forth of the graduating class went so far in their displeasure
to as to mount a protest against Bush speaking. More
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2007
A Hybrid Court for Lebanon
What the future tribunal will look like, and how it follows in the footsteps of other UN courts

A Report by Gideon Copple, United Nations Association Intern.
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Honoring My Father
A Father’s Day Address by Victor Formenko

“On several occasions the KGB broke into our apartment and fined my father
the equivalent of a month’s worth of wages” — More
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To My Mother
A Commemorative Speech bySarah Cockrell

“It was the first day of Kindergarten and my mother was the piano player for my teacher Ms. Allen.
Every morning that year my mom would play the song “My Country Tis of Thee” after my class recited the pledge of allegiance.
I was so happy that she was my mom. – More
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My Dad, My Best Friend
A Commemorative Speech by Sandra Vleck

“My dad doesn’t tell me how to live. He simply lives and let’s me watch him do it.” – More
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Tribute to Anna Louise Sacks
A commemorative speech by Porsha Robinson

“Everyone would gather around the table, and listen to what Madea had to say.  She was the one in the family
everyone went to for advise or a word of wisdom.” – More
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In Praise of Grandma
A Commemorative Speech by Katherine

Grandma “just loved life.”  This was evident when we saw her dancing in the kitchen each time
“Jingle Bell Rock” or “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” came on the radio. – More
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Thrills and Agonies of Basketball
A speech to entertain, by Marissa Camp

“For my family, basketball is not just a game, but a way of life. From my earliest memory my family life has
revolved around basketball.” –More
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Take My Partner, Please:Humor in Worlds-Style Debating. by Gary Gillespie

“The Devil, proud spirit … cannot endure to be mocked” — Thomas More – More

Fall 2006
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Surviving the Pasayten Wilderness:
A F 16 Pilot’s Backpack Trip Turns Educational by Gary Gillespie

“It was the worst day of my life.Holed up under a fir tree at dusk, we had just finished forty-eight hours of evading in the rain.
My body was literally shaking from the cold.”  More
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Spring 2006
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Out of the Salt Shaker, a Commencement Address by Communication Major Gideon Copple
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. More
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We will Not Forget:A Commemorative speechby Josh Burdick

Nick Berg was a 26 year old contractor kidnapped in Iraq in 2003. After holding him as a prisoner for several weeks, forcing his
family to beg for his release, the terrorists choose instead to video tape his murder.  More
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“Moral Relativism in Pro-Choice Rhetoric:
a Reply to Stephan Sullivan,” by Gary Gillespie, Values Newsletter Read Gillespie’s Article Read Sullivan’s article
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Eulogy for Dad, by Gary Gillespie

Each day one thousand World War Two veterans pass away.
Each day the ranks of the Greatest Generation suffer a thousand losses. More
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Fall 2005
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Metaphors of Grief: an Analysis of Mourning for 9 11 Victims
A Masters Thesis by Jennifer Gilrein
Aristotle stated, “the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor” More
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Spring 2005
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Renaissance Man
A Commemorative Speech by Grant Enloe
My father’s favorite Bible verse is Ephesians 2:10, “You are Gods work of art.” He believes that everyone
is a masterpiece created by God. Everyone is created with a purpose. Everyone is unique. More
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See you when I’m Home
A Commemorative Speech by Michelle Thomas
You said “Goodbye, I love you and will see you when you get home.”
Now I know that home meant Heaven. More
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Today is a Good Day
An eulogy by Michael Stracener
D.L. Moody said of his own death, “One day you will open the paper and read that D. L. Moody is dead.
Don’t you believe it! In that day I will be more alive than I have ever been before.” More
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In Memory of School Shooting Victims
A speech by Tiffany Zulkosky
“We honor our loved ones, not by the way we grieve, but by the way we live.” More
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I can do this: One Student’s Quest for Health and Fitness
A person essay by Sara Boyd
“I am fat.” It’s a thought, statement, and feeling that all women face. For me, it was the truth.
In the last year I have lost one hundred pounds. That, by the way, is more than an Olsen twin. More
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A Mother Standing Tall
A commemorative Speech by Brittany Johnsen
“The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children.” More
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Now is the Time to Save Lives
A Persuasive Speech by Johanna Burch
On December 26^th, 2004, a 9.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of Indonesia. Subsequently a
tsunami in the Indian Ocean came crashing into over 11 nations and killing more than 150,000 people,
including around 100,000 in Indonesia alone. More
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Importance of World Conflict
An Informative Speech by Tania Fleming
“Wanted: A Recipe for World Peace,” “Walk for World Peace,” “Tibetan Monks Bring World Peace Tour to Biloxi,”
“Why Boris Johnson Could Bring World Peace.” More
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Happiness as Pedagogy:
A model for teaching ethics
A journal article by Gary Gillespie
In his Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle sought to provide a framework for teaching values by appealing to the student’s
desire for happiness. He believed that happiness is achieved by fulfilling our highest powers as rational creatures.
He observed that the happiest people are usually those who make wise choices, accept self discipline and are
devoted to contemplating truth about the human condition.  His thesis is a simple one: if only people can be taught
to fall in love with wisdom – actualizing their highest powers as rational creatures — they will act ethically. More
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Fall 2004
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In His Marvelous Mercy: A Conversion Narrative
A personal essay by Teresa Gillespie
When I was born, my parents, Robinson and Geraldine Williams, lived in a bungalow on the north side of
an ivy-covered hillside in Hollywood, California.  My father’s mother, Ida Robinson lived in a cottage down
the street, and, between the two houses lived her unmarried sister, Ada, whom I knew as “Aunt Bob.”  As the
first child and first grandchild, I was eagerly awaited.
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Summer 2004
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Madness in Madrid
A report by Gideon Copple
The Northwest Debate Team had the opportunity of attending an international tournament held in Madrid, Spain earlier this month over spring break. More
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Madrid and the Healing Wounds of Art
An article by Teresa Gillespie, esq., Political Science Professor
On Sunday, March 7, my husband and I strolled onto the Puerto del Sol, one of Madrid’s central plazas. More