Webster Student in Top 3 of Elite National Oratory Tournament

Webster University speech communications student Kim Runnion placed third at the oldest forensic tournament in the world -- The Interstate Oratorical Contest. The an annual tournament is only open to the top two orators in each state, and, this year, featured 44 competitors from 40 states.  Runnion, a senior,  finished third with her speech which addressed inconsistencies in fees charged by hospitals to insurance companies and uninsured patients. 

As part of qualifying for the tournament, Runnion had her speech published in the annual Winning Orations magazine. It is the fourth consecutive year Webster has qualified at least one student for the tournament, and the second year Runnion competed in the event.  Additionally, Kim joins a very small number of students who advanced to championship rounds at two different national tournaments in the same year.  She won the junior varsity parliamentary championship with her partner, freshman speech communication studies student  Adam Schneider, at the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament in March.  After commencement, Runnion will be a graduate teaching assistant at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville will pursuing master's degree in speech communication with an emphasis in health communication.

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