Note: Full description of questions including sources, references and citations available [Questions]

1.  As of Aug. 12, 2020, NPR’s Camilla Domonoske discovered that, “Since George Floyds murder, 59 Confederate symbols have been removed which is a significant increase over past years. In an updated report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, just 16 Confederate symbols were removed or renamed in all of 2019, but nearly 1,800 Confederate symbols remain on public land and 725 of those symbols are monuments.”1 Do you agree or disagree with the removal of these symbols? If you agree with the removal, how do you propose to remove the near 1,800 left? Or, if you disagree, how will ensure their preservation? 
2.  Momentum is building for the case for reparations for African Americans. For example, “The Asheville City Council voted 7-0 on a resolution to repair centuries of racial prejudice by unanimously voting to provide reparations, formally apologized to its Black residents for the city’s role in slavery, discriminatory housing practices, and other racist policies throughout its history,”2 reports ABC News’ Ivan Pereira. In addition, “The U.S. Conference of Mayors released a letter backing a Democratic plan, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act, to form a reparations commission to come up with a payment to 41 million black people for slavery,”3 states Paul Bedard, a Washington Secrets Columnist. Where do you stand on reparations for the descendants of African Americans? How would you administer funding to the community? If you are opposed to reparations, explain your reasoning. 
3.  In early April, “Dr. Anthony Fauci took time on a national stage during a White House coronavirus press briefing to draw attention into how African Americans death rates and intensive-care intubations were higher because of a greater prevalence of underlying medical conditions, like diabetes, hypertension, obesity & asthma,”4 Jake Lahut of Business Insider accounts. Furthermore, inequities in the social determinants of health, such as poverty and healthcare access, affecting [people of color] are interrelated and influence a wide range of health and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.5 To achieve health equity, barriers must be removed so that everyone has a fair opportunity to be as healthy as possible.6 What are the barriers to health care access blocking Black citizens from equal care and how will they be broken down? 
4. Chris Quintana of USA Today asks, “The 2019 graduates of Morehouse had a gift from billionaire philanthropist Robert F. Smith, to pay their collective federal student loans off; but what about those of us without a billionaire? The national student loan debt stands at about $1.6 trillion, according to data from the Federal Reserve System. Research shows Black students generally have higher amounts of debts as well as a higher default rate.”7 Do you think the government should forgive this collective student debt or should the borrower continue to be responsible for the educational loan? Please explain. 
5. “Black journalists are calling for a new media landscape. After being hit hard by Covid-19 media layoffs, leading the reporting on racial disparities among coronavirus cases, enduring abuse from both police and publications while covering the George Floyd uprisings, and suffering the seemingly constant discrimination of white newsrooms. Black journalists are tired. To be a working Black journalist is to live in a perpetual state of exhaustion. The data here is by now familiar: A 2018 survey from the Pew Research Center found that 77 percent of newsroom employees are white and just 7 percent are Black,”8 Char Adams of The New Republic tells us. How do we forge a new journalistic environment to protect and support Black reporters, as well as encourage youth of color to pursue the craft to balance representation? 
6. Mayor Walsh has declared racism a public health crisis in Boston. In an effort to combat it, Walsh moved less than 3% of the police department budget to other services. “At $414 million per year, BPD is second only to Boston Public Schools in overall funding, dwarfing all other departments. As our [WBUR’s] analysis shows, that’s almost three times the size of the Cabinet of Health and Human Services and four times the size of the Public Health Commission. That’s worrying at the best of times, but during a global pandemic, it’s outrageous,”9 says WBUR’s Carol Rose. Did Mayor Walsh divert too much, too little or just the right amount of funding from the BPD to affect the public health crisis of racism in Boston? Please explain your reasoning and what you would do differently, if anything. 
7. After the assassination of Dr. King, Black students presented Northeastern University President Asa Knowles, a list of 13 Demands, on May 3, 1968. The aims of the 13 Demands centered upon equal access to university resources, increased enrollment of Black students and faculty, financial support and creating afro-centric programs and curricula. The first of the thirteen Demands is stated thusly: 1) We demand new academic scholarships for Black students by September of 1968; and by 1971, we demand that at least 10 percent of the incoming freshman class be Black. Now, it is 2020 and the Black student population at NU is 3.3%, down from 2019’s 3.4%. NU is indeed a PWI, a primarily white institution with its official centennial history, Tradition and Innovation: Reflections on Northeastern University’s first century, declaring “The university would strive to attain a 10% minority enrollment by 1971, a goal that was achieved by 1971, a goal that was achieved by the target date.”10 The truth is Black enrollment has never gotten close to 10% in Northeastern University’s entire history. In reality, 10% minority enrollment was not demanded, 10% Black enrollment was; how can NU be held accountable for 50 years of a broken word and moved to action to hit 10% Black enrollment? 
8. “Transgender women of color led the uprising at the Stonewall Inn 51 years ago Sunday, but they were never put at the center of the movement they helped start: one whose very shorthand, “the gay rights movement,” erases them. Although active in the Black Lives Matter movement from the beginning, they have not been prioritized there, either. At no point have Black trans people shared fully in the gains of racial justice or LGBTQ activism, despite suffering disproportionately from the racism, homophobia and transphobia these movements exist to combat. But now, as the two movements are pulled together by extraordinary circumstances — the protests sparked by the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery; the killings of two Black trans women, Dominique Fells and Riah Milton, shortly after a Black trans man, Tony McDade, was killed by police; a pandemic that has disproportionately affected people of color; an economic crisis that has disproportionately affected trans people; and a Supreme Court decision protecting gay and trans people from employment discrimination;”11 how do we uplift, elevate and help our Black trans sisters achieve whole-hearted acceptance, clear visibility and above all, equality in the Black lives Matter Movement? 
9. Just this July, “The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a sweeping police reform and accountability bill that seeks to certify all law enforcement officers in the state and curb the use of force tactics by police. The bill, representing the House’s attempt at addressing calls to counter systemic racism and force changes within law enforcement. Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Association of Massachusetts, said the bill “does not reflect the fierce urgency that deadly police violence against Black people demands. Instead, it reflects the depth of entrenched opposition to necessary police reform.” However, the legislation does bans the use of facial technology, chokeholds, and regulates the use of tear gas and rubber bullets unless officers have no other options to protect public safety.”12 Did Massachusetts’ Police Reform Bill go far enough to truly affect positive change at the Boston Police Department or did the bill go too far in restricting the actions and privileges of the BPD? Please explain. 
10. Not long after the murder of George Floyd, “Two petitions on Change.org have drawn more than three million signatures as of June 15, 2020. The first, petitioning Congress to ‘Make the KKK illegal’ and the second change to ‘Change KKK status into Terrorist Organization.’”13 Unfortunately, “The United States faces a growing terrorism problem that will likely worsen over the next year. Based on a Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) data set of terrorist incidents, the most significant threat likely comes from white supremacists…”14 With public opinion moving toward disbanding the Ku Klux Klan, known as a domestic extremist organization, do you agree that the group should be labeled a domestic terrorist organization or keep its designation as it is? Please explain. 

Note: Full description of questions including sources, references and citations available [Questions]

If you are interested in joining the competition, please no later than Wednesday, September 24th by 11:59PM. [Closed]

The competition will consist of three student categories: a first-year, upper-class, and graduate student category. Each student will have a maximum of seven minutes to discuss their topic in front of an audience of students, staff, and faculty. The competition will have three judges and a contestant’s final score will be based upon the combined total of each judge’s score.

Contestants will be judged on the five following criteria: content, delivery, presentation, eye contact, and time limit. A description of what each entails is given below:

• Content: Introduce the topic. State a clear thesis on position of topic. Use adequate research and acknowledge sources. Present a clear smooth
• Delivery: Enunciate clearly. Speak loudly and not too rapidly. Use emphasis appropriately and not excessively.
• Presentation: Organize the material in a logical manner. Indicate familiarity with subject. Display no distracting
• Eye contact: Maintain constant or adequate contact with the whole audience, including eye contact with the judges.
• Time limit: Speak within the 7 minute time

The Roland E. Latham Oratory Competition allows for each student competitor to seek the assistance of a faculty, staff, or student coach. This coach can work with the student competitor in developing their argument and aspects of their presentations. The use of a coach is not mandatory, however we strongly encourage you to work with another person during the creation of your argument and practicing the delivery. The staff at the JDOAAI are willing to work with you as a coach.

Oratory Judges –

Ms. Sara Rivera
Assistant Director and Interim Director
Latin X Center
Student Affairs

Ms. Marsha White
Assistant Director
Online and Hybrid Learning
School of Law

Dr. Richard Harris
Assistant Dean
Undergraduate Student Services
College of Engineering