Traditions: Bailey Oratorical
The Bailey Oratorical is one of Juniata’s longest standing traditions. The first meeting was in May of 1910, that is over 100 years ago! These speeches have to be 6–8 minutes. I believe it is an awesome way to have the student body present their public speaking skills as well as their knowledge on a given topic.
I can only imagine the time it takes to put together the speech and to practice it to perfection. I had a friend who was competing in the Bailey Oratorical, and I offered to listen to his speech and offer constructive criticism. He spoke on ways to mitigate pollution in the ocean. He explained the problem in great detail, when/how it occurred, as well as provide elaborate solutions to clean the sea to both help aquatic life and help us deal with our pollution problem. He had a great speech with solid delivery. He explained to me all the effort that went into his speech, a lot of practice and researching to find reliable sources to further aid his speech. I feel that speeches are 60/40 how you convey your emotion and timed pauses in comparison to what you are actually saying.
Pictured below is an example of what the prompt is for the 2020 edition of the Bailey Oratorical.
Being able to have a tradition last as long as the Bailey Oratorical is beyond beneficial for the student body as it forces them to put their best foot forward. I aspire one day to compete with a well put together speech at some point in my college career here at Juniata.
I wonder if the Bailey Oratorical has been tweaked or made small changes as it has been a tradition for a long time. There should be more appreciation or coverage to these long-standing traditions that separates Juniata from other colleges. The Bailey Oratorical along with other traditions like the storming of the arch provide students with a unique experience that we otherwise would not experience at another college.
Pictured below is the storming of the arch.
