2024 Speaking Competition: Democracy
Every February since 2019, the College has held a speaking competition in Johnson Chapel centered on a different theme. Past themes have included power, progress and justice, and this year eight finalists considered the idea of democracy. The students came from each class and were coached by Susan Daniels, associate in public speaking. And a panel of judges selected three winners—whose speeches covered democracy around the world, from South Korea to Pakistan to Slovakia.
Given this year’s theme, it seemed judicious that an alumnus, whose portrait hung on the wall behind the dais, had much to say about democracy, too. William Henry Hastie, Amherst class of 1925, was the first Black federal judge in the United States. “Democracy is a process, not a static condition,” Hastie once said. “It is becoming, rather than being. It can easily be lost, but never is fully won. Its essence is eternal struggle.”
That eternal struggle figured into the speeches delivered this winter’s day in 2024. Watch, listen and read below.