The Department of Writing and Rhetoric’s Awards Committee invites you to the final round of the JoAnn Edwards Speaking Award competition on Thursday, Nov. 4th at 6:00 p.m. in Lamar  Hall, Room 131 (first floor).
The award recognizes outstanding SPCH 102, The Fundamentals of Public Speaking, and SPCH 105, Business and Professional Speaking, students. Students who advance to the final round will each be judged as they deliver a speech to a live audience.
The award is named in honor of JoAnn Edwards, a beloved retired Speech Instructor from the Department of Writing and Rhetoric. During her time at UM, Edwards served as the Director of Forensics, taught in the Lott Leadership Institute, and helped found and direct the University’s Speaker’s Edge Competition. Edwards received the University’s Frist Student Service Award in 2021. The committee is excited to select the recipient for the Public Speaking Award in her honor, in recognition of the tremendous impact she had on her students and the campus community.