Madison Petersen was a few months away from becoming the Class of 2021’s valedictorian at Legacy Early College when, midway through Black History Month, she delivered a speech that not only won her a $450 first prize, but a firm place in Mike Chatman’s memory.
“She was…” Chatman pauses to drive home the power of her presentation, “outstanding. She gave her oration without hardly ever looking at notes.”
Petersen remembers the Joseph Vaughn Oratorical Competition a bit differently. Though she had written an essay about encouraging young people to vote, she didn’t speak from any notes, she says.
“The fact that I was able to memorize a speech and get up there and present it in front of all those people really did wonders for my confidence,” says Petersen, a Greenville native who is now a sophomore at North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University, an HBCU (historically Black college/university) in Greensboro. “And then even being fortunate enough to win, that was just all the more important,”
Or as Chatman recalls, she “blew us all away.”
The oratorical contest was first held in 2008 in Furman University’s Daniel Chapel and is named after the school’s first Black undergraduate, Joseph Vaughn, who enrolled there on Jan. 29, 1965.
“He was excellent with the English language,” says Chatman, chairman of the program’s co-sponsor, Alpha Greenville Foundation, along with Furman. The organization is part of Greenville’s Gamma Gamma Lamba chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s oldest African American fraternity, founded in New York in 1906.
Chatman himself belongs to a major part of Greenville’s history too. While he has overseen the oratorical competition for the last 10 years — this was his last, he says — he’s also the son of Luke Chatman. The elder Chatman was the last principal of Sterling High School, serving from 1968 until the day the school closed.
And it just so happens that this year’s oratorical contest falls on Saturday, Feb. 18, one day before the 50th anniversary of Greenville County Schools’ integration, which led to the closure of the all-Black high school, of which Vaughn also was an alumnus.
Held every year during Black History Month, the competition also pays tribute to one of the most famed orators in American history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The organization recruits students from Greenville County Schools, scouring debate and theater departments for a maximum of 10 competitors. Applicants must submit an essay addressing that year’s theme.
This year’s subject is: “In unprecedented times like these, where many societal gains seem to be disappearing, what is the role of the high school student, as America and the world face uncertainty?”
Chatman explains, “It’s basically humanity: ‘Me, as a student, what can I do to help improve the situation for the country?’”
He remembers one year when a contestant hit a wall of uncertainty. Midway through his speech, the young man’s nerves shattered. After the others completed their speeches — no longer than seven and a half minutes, no shorter than four and a half minutes — organizers, friends and family encouraged him to try again.
“And he finished it, got a standing ovation,” Chatman says.
Furman Jackson, an English teacher at Northwest Middle School and president of the fraternity’s Greenville chapter, says of the competition, “When I walk away from it, it’s always mind-boggling to me the way the youth present themselves with the topic they’re given to speak on, the different approaches they use.”
And Petersen encourages those students coming up behind her to make their mark — and to let the oratorical experience make its mark on them too, despite the steeliness required for public speaking.
“I definitely would recommend it to anyone who just has the courage to get out there and try,” she says. “You don’t lose anything just by trying and taking a risk on yourself.”
Event details
Joseph Vaughn Oratorical Competition
10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 18
Wade Hampton High School
100 Pine Knoll Drive, Greenville
For details, contact Alpha Greenville Foundation at contact@alphagreenville.org
About the Competition
This year’s theme: “In unprecedented times like these, where many societal gains seem to be disappearing, what is the role of the high school student as America and the world face uncertainty?”
Speeches must run no longer than seven and a half minutes and no shorter than four and a half minutes
Invitations to enter are sent in November to high school teachers and counselors throughout Greenville County Schools. The competition is limited to 10 participants
Finalists receive feedback on their essays just days before the event
How contestants are scored
Final competition
Physical – 10 points
Appearance, body language
Voice – 10 points
Flexibility, volume
Manner – 10 points
Directness, assurance, enthusiasm
Appropriateness – 10 points
Speech address purpose & audience
First round
Speech Development – 20 points
Structure, organization, support material
Effectiveness – 15 points
Achievement of purpose, interest and reception
Correctness – 10 points
Grammar, pronunciation, word selection
Speech Value – 15 points
Ideas, logic, original thoughts
Maximum 100 points for combined scoring
Prizes
Each finalist receives a certificate. Top prizes include:
Gold Medalist – Oratorical Champion Award
$450
Silver Medalist
$250
Bronze Medalist
$150
Source: Alpha Greenville Foundation
