Online

Visit bradleyspeech
team.com for more information.

The Bradley Speech Team had another successful run this spring, starting with the American Forensics Association (AFA) National Individual Events Tournament in Eau Claire, Wis., in April. In addition to Bradley winning the overall sweepstakes with 443 points, several individuals won competitions.

AMANDA VOIROL ’11

PATRICK CAMPBELL ’10

AMANDA VOIROL ’11 and JARED BOYER ’10 became the first pair in AFA history to defend their national title in duo interpretation. Voirol also took home the national title in dramatic interpretation. The two wins gave Voirol enough points to win the individual sweepstakes title as well, given to the speaker with the most points after competing in at least four events. The top three individual sweepstakes winners were from Bradley: Voirol, Boyer, and PATRICK CAMPBELL ’10. Campbell also won the national championship in persuasive speaking at the National Forensic Association National Championships in Athens, Ohio, in April.

Campbell finished the team’s season by taking second place at America’s oldest public speaking competition, the Interstate Oratory Contest, held at the University of Oklahoma. He represented Illinois in the competition after winning the persuasion event at the state level. Campbell’s speech was about the funding gap in American education, a topic close to his heart. Four years ago, Campbell founded a nonprofit that serves to address problems and promote change in public education.

The persuasion event was the favorite of former teammate CURT BYARS ’07, who died in January, and Campbell delivered the speech in his memory.

Dan Smith, director of forensics at Bradley, coaches the speech team.

MBA students score three-peat

By MELISSA VOGRIN ’10

MBA team
FROM LEFT: Tibor Gerliczy, Martina Stavikova, Dr. Larry Weinzimmer, Svatava Kubankova, Dr. Moustafa Abdelsamad (SAM president & CEO); and Brad Eskridge accept their first-place award at the SAM International Case Competition. The four students earned their MBAs in 2010.

Bradley’s team of MBA students won the National Case Competition in the Society for Advancement of Management’s (SAM) International Business Conference in Arlington, Va., making them the first to win the competition three times in a row.

The four team members spent six weeks preparing for the competition by conducting research, surveys, and marketing assessments for TomTom, an automotive GPS system manufacturer. The April competition consisted of a 15-minute presentation and a 15-minute question-and-answer session.

Online

Listen to an interview of the MBA team by fellow member Brad Eskridge.

BRAD ESKRIDGE ’08 MBA ’10 said the team’s continuing success reflects the high quality of a Bradley education. “I think it shows … we have a top-tier, top-level business program.”

SVATAVA KUBANKOVA, MBA ’10 and MARTINA STAVIKOVA, MBA ’10 were also members of Bradley’s team that won the same competition last year. They, along with teammate TIBOR GERLICZY, MBA ’10, are international exchange students from the University of Economics in Prague, Czech Republic. Since Bradley began competing in the SAM competition, the team has had at least two students from the University of Prague each year.

Bradley has an exchange program with the University of Prague that recruits its top students to complete their MBA degrees at Bradley. Bradley typically has three Prague students enter the MBA program each year, which means that there are usually six Czech students on campus at a time, since the MBA is a two-year program.

“The student who encouraged us to send a team to the competition and thus started the effort was [University of Prague exchange student] HELENA RACICKA, MBA ’09,” said Susannah Gawor, assistant director of graduate programs. “Even though we get applications from many more, the students from the University of Prague are always some of the strongest students who apply to participate in the SAM competition.”

Gawor explained that Bradley is also working on a partnership program with the American University of India for both bachelor’s and MBA degrees.

DR. LARRY WEINZIMMER ’83 MBA ’85, professor of strategic management and adviser of all three championship teams, said that the win was a team effort. “The students from the University of Prague work extremely well with the American students, and each member played an integral role in the competition.”