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The �鶹��ѡ School of Communication Studies will host its annual Hyde Park Forum on April 12, 2016, in the Student Center Ballroom on the �鶹��ѡCampus beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The event is an opportunity for students enrolled in the Introduction to Human Communication class to engage in persuasive public discourse for an audience of peers, family and faculty. Six students have been selected to compete from a variety of majors. Judges rate student performances to designate first, second, third and honorable mention. The forum, which typically draws around 900 people to the event, includes audience members casting their votes to select a speaker to receive the People’s Choice Award.  This year, attendees will be able to vote for their speaker choice using a new app, Vote Vox, to make the voting process faster and more efficient.

“Students enrolled during the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 semester of the current academic year are eligible to compete, providing us a slate of speakers that can best present a persuasive speech within a five minute time frame,” Jennifer McCullough, Ph.D., basic course director and assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies, said.

The six students, their topics and instructors are as follows:

• Dartalia Alati: Stigmatization of Mental Illness (Shayna Fischer)
• Molly Evans: The Sour Side of Sweet School Lunches (Kristen Hilfiger)
• Nicholas Larson: Modern Slavery and Fair Trade: Being a Voice to the Voiceless (Phillip Reed)
• Faith Medlock: On Drugs and Addiction: End the War, Start the Fight (Zachary Humphries)
• Arkayla Tenney: Laughter is the Best Medicine ( Shayna Fischer)
• John Wroblewski III: Too Little, Too Late (Sanguk Lee)

Judges representing local civic and educational organizations will join the panel this year including:

• Amy Reynolds, dean of the College of Communication and Information
• Jeff Child, interim director for the School of Communication Studies
• Erin Hollenbaugh, associate professor for the School of Communication Studies at the Stark Campus
• Dave Trebing, associate professor for the School of Communication Studies
• Lori Wemhoff, executive director of the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce and Central Portage County Visitors and Convention Bureau

�鶹��ѡ’s School of Communication Studies has undergraduate degree programs with concentrations in Organizational, Applied, Public, Global, Interpersonal and Health Communication. Graduate programs include master’s degrees in Global, Health, Mediated/Mass and Interpersonal Communication.