Morris Womack Speech Competition

Prof. Gregory Daum with winner Ikechukwu Egwuonwu

The Morris Womack Speech Competition began in 1998 and honors Dr. Morris M. Womack. Dr. Womack served as the George Pepperdine College Registrar from 1967-1970. He served as a Professor of Communication from 1970-1999. He is the Founder of the Pepperdine University Forensics Program, the author of more than a dozen books, including "Learning to Live from the Parables," and Visiting Professor for the LA Sheriff's Department Law Enforcement Education Program through Pepperdine. Dr. Womack was the Chaplain of Men's Basketball Team, as well as a Church of Christ Minister and Speaker for more than 50 years.

As Professor of Communication, Dr. Womack taught more than 400 students each semester in Communication 180 – Speech and Rhetorical Analysis. The course is a requirement for all Seaver students. In the Womack competition, students compete over several evenings. There is a grand prize, and a prize for the runner up. The first round of the competitions is held in the individual classes as individual faculty and their students select the best speech given in that course. These 15 to 18 finalists then present their speech several more times during the elimination competition. Faculty and students serve as judges for those subsequent rounds, with the finalists delivering their speeches to students, faculty, families, and alumni in the large lecture class in the Center for Communication and Business, or in the Howard A. White Center (HAWC). At that final event, a Communication Division professor takes five minutes to recount to students the outstanding contributions of Dr. Womack to the field of Communication and to the ministry of the Churches of Christ. Dr. Womack attended every speech competition until his death in 9/2011.

A permanent plaque listing the winners hangs on the Legacy Wall in the Communication Division suite. The Womack finals represent the best of Pepperdine's students exhibiting strong oral skills, exceptional organization and research expertise, and critical thinking abilities that will serve them well in to the future.

Your gift to the Morris Womack Speech Competition will enhance the prestige of this honored tradition, providing more exposure to our students.

We would love to have you join us for the Womack Speech Competition this Spring! Check back soon for the spring date.

Past winners of the Morris Womack Speech Competition include: