►CONTACT US at the DEPARTMENT of COMMUNICATION         

Forensics Menu:
History
HOME Comm Dept
Introduction
Links
Pi Kappa Delta
Roster
Schedule
Scholarships
Staff
Team NEWS
Tournaments
 

 For more than six decades, forensics competition has offered academic enrichment to hundreds of students at Boise Junior College, Boise College, Boise State College, and now Boise State University.
        Dr. Eugene B. Chaffee, the second president of Boise Junior College, was the founder of  the college's debate team in the fall of 1937.  He considered the enterprise so important to campus life and the quality of education at the institution, he volunteered to serve as the team's coach during its inaugural season.
     In the years that followed, the debate program diversified, adding opportunities for inter-collegiate competition in public speaking and oral interpretation
 (or "Declamation" as those individual events were then called),
                                    and later took on the title "Forensics Program."
     By 1941, the BJC Forensics Club boasted 21 members under the direction of  Dr. C. D. Myers.  Members competed in debate, parliamentary procedure, oral interpretation and speech.
     The second World War restricted travel and diverted much of the Nation's human
resources to the war effort.  By 1943, Boise Junior College was left with so few faculty  members that most activities and many classes, including debate, were suspended.  President Chaffee himself left campus in 1942 to serve as a naval officer.
       Lying dormant until 1953, the forensics program was revived by Professor Harold Wennstrom.  By the 1955-56 season, Professor Wennstrom's debate teams were regular winners on the Northwest circuit.  The team of Neil Scott and Rod Walston placed third at the Tournament of Champions at Linfield College and appeared in the finals of the 1956 National Junior College Tournament. 
       Under the direction of Professor Joseph M. Dolph from 1958 until 1961, the BJC program traveled widely and became one of the most successful community college programs in the Northwest.  In 1959, Boise Junior College was inducted into Phi Rho Pi, the forensic honorary for two-year institutions, as the Idaho Alpha chapter.
       In 1965 the school was accorded four-year status and became Boise College.  Professor Robert T. Miller, director of forensics from 1962-67, guided a successful transition from junior college to four-year program.  In 1969 Boise College was incorporated into the state of Idaho's higher education system.  The following year the Idaho Epsilon chapter of Pi Kappa Delta was established at Boise State College.
       Boise State's winning tradition continued under Professor C. Harvey Pitman, who served as Director of Forensics from 1967 to 1972.  In 1971, BSC enjoyed its first taste of national success as a four-year institution, earning an Excellent Award in Overall Sweepstakes at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament in Houston, Texas.
       In 1973, BSC became Boise State University.  Two years later, the Idaho Epsilon chapter earned its first Superior in Overall Sweepstakes at

 1991 ‑ Monmouth, New Jersey ‑ Twentieth Place
                          1993 ‑ Tacoma, Washington ‑ Sixth Place
                          1995 ‑ Shreveport, Louisiana ‑ Third Place
                          1997 ‑ Covington, Kentucky ‑ Fifteenth Place
                          1999 ‑ Fargo, North Dakota ‑ Fourth Place
                          2001 ‑ Boise, Idaho ‑ Fifth Place
                          2003 ‑ Baltimore, Maryland ‑ Third Place
                          2005 -  St. Louis, Missouri - First Place        

        Pi Kappa Delta Regional Tournament (Biennial)

                     1990 ‑ Third Place                      2000 ‑ Second Place
                     1992 ‑ Second Place                   2002 ‑ First Place
                     1994 – Second                            2004 -  First Place
                     1996 ‑ First Place                       2006 -  First Place
                     1998 ‑ First Place 

                  Northwest Forensic Conference Season
                                Sweepstakes Awards
        1990 ‑ First Place (Division II)              1998 ‑ First Place (Division II)
        1991 ‑ First Place (Division II)                  1999 ‑ First Place (Division II)        
        1992 ‑ First Place (Division II)                  2000 ‑ First Place (Division II)
             
        1993 ‑ First Place (Division II)                  2001 ‑ Second Place (Division I)
        1994 ‑ First Place (Division II)                  2002 ‑ Second Place (Division I)
        1995 ‑ Second Place (Division II)              2003 ‑ First Place (Division I)
        1996 ‑ First Place (Division II)                  2004 ‑ Second Place (Division I)
        1997 ‑ First Place (Division II)                  2005 -  First Place (Division I)

Top‑Three Finishes at Major Northwest Invitationals
College of Southern Idaho Invitational - Twin Falls, Idaho
First – 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Whitman College Invitational - Walla Walla, Washington
First – 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999   Second – 1995, 2005  Third - 2002
The Mahaffey Memorial at Linfield College - McMinville, Oregon
                   First - 1992, 1997, 2001, 2003  Second - 1995, 2005
Lewis & Clark College Invitational - Portland, Oregon
             First – 1994, 2006  Second – 1995, 2001  Third – 1990, 2000
 Western Washington University - Bellingham, Washington
   First – 1998     Second – 1996, 2000, 2003
     University of Oregon Invitational - Eugene, Oregon
   First, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2002
  Betsy Karl Invitational at Pacific Lutheran University - Tacoma, Washington
First – 2004     Second – 2003
Willamette University Invitational - Salem, Oregon
 First – 1993     Third - 1997
Pacific University - Forest Grove, Oregon
Second - 2003, 2004
Clackamas College Invitational - Oregon City, Oregon
First - 2006
       
<<Back to Top