The Commencement Address
Commencement is an exciting time for everyone involved. This address should reflect the emotions represented. Keep the following suggestions in mind:
- You are representing your entire class, and you speak for all of its members.
- Be selective in your choice of materials. From all of your college experiences, choose those that were truly significant for you and your class.
- Sincerity is important. You must really believe what you are saying.
- Use specific illustrations and examples. These are what Aristotle called "the lifeblood" of the speech, and help to hold the audience's attention. Building upon what you have learned in classes is appropriate. The audience will be interested in your studies.
- A little humor, carefully and gently used, helps to ease tensions and is usually welcomed by the audience.
- The use of appropriate quotations and a bit of good poetry or pertinent prose help to make what you say memorable.
- Follow a clearly delineated structure:
- Talk about the past: Praise those who have contributed to the class. Mention significant group experiences, events, speakers, or highlights of your college career. Show the value of belonging to this class.
- Talk about the future: We have a responsibility to use our education to make this world a better place. Consider what we must do with our education and advantages. Connect your education to your future.
- A powerful, memorable, meaningful conclusion will set the tone for the day. An apt quotation, short illustration, or appropriate bit of poetry may help make the point.
The Guidelines
The oration must be original work and must be written and delivered by the contestant. Any type of speech is acceptable (informative, inspirational, persuasive) as well as any subject matter as long as it has the depth and dignity which reflect the tone of the commencement. The speech should be 5-7 minutes long and should be memorized, although the manuscript may be taken to the platform.
The finalists will be chosen on the basis of the content of their orations and their style of delivery. The student should bring an extra copy of the manuscript to the selection contest. This is to endure that the oration used at the contest is the same as the one used in the commencement program. Minor corrections and improvements may be made, but the topic, the main ideas and the theme must remain the same.
If you have further questions, please contact Dr. Cheongmi Shim, at 740.376.4546, cs009@marietta.edu.
Past Jewett Prize Winners
Names link to their respective speech when available.
1906 — Walter Carl Kelley
1907 — George Selden Humphrey, Harry Frank Mautz
1908 — William Edward Byers, William Ferdinand Bonar
1909 — No Jewett Prize awarded
1910 — David Rees Williams
1911 — Alice May Crone
1912 — William MacKay
1913 — No Jewett Prize awarded
1914 — Harry Alden Blankenship
1915 — Harold Steen Coil
1916 — Ralph Newton Ogdin
1917 — Melvin J. Haire
1918 — Fred Glenn Jackson
1919 — William Karl Beaver
1920 — Edgar William Norris
1921 — Helen Catherine Beltz
1922 — Kenneth Reppert Ward
1923 — Helen Sprague Newton
1924 — Samuel Newton Dicken
1925 — Roselyn Henrietta Beltz
1926 — Arthur Allen Schoolcraft
1927 — Ida Blanche Hoskin
1928 — Alsoph Henry Corwin
1929 — Ronald Claire Stillman
1930 — Lincoln Gustav Schmidt
1931 — Homer James Hall
1932 — Lucy Andalona McKibben
1933 — Marion Bradford Sloan
1934 — Virginia Lee Neptune, Brooks Edward Wigginton
1935 — Ainslie Burke Miner
1936 — Charles Victor Renner
1937 — Carl Dean Gramlich
1938 — Kathryn Kirby Dedman
1939 — Elinor Imogene Ayers
1940 — Arthur Bartels Logan
1941 — Dorothy Irene Hupp
1942 — Lucy Roberta Holland
1943 — Ontario Horia Nestor
1944 — Virginia Mary Meister
1945 — Gertrude Bigelow Baker
1946 — Robert Louis Strecker
1947 — David Robert Rood
1948 — Harry Robinson Jr.
1949 — Barbara Ann Beiser
1950 — Melvin Paul Mohn
1951 — Edith Elizabeth Bohrer
1952 — Alice Alta Press
1953 — John Sylvester Finlayson
1954 — John Cameron Ahart
1955 — Robert Francis Goreth
1956 — Robert George Finney
1957 — Kenneth Wayne Wall
1958 — Ruth Eleanor Grogg
1959 — Carolyn Lee Griffith
1960 — Nancy Jane Callander
1961 — Judith Ellen Youmans
1962 — Victor Dale Powell
1963 — Judythe Anne Stephan
1964 — Dorothy Sharon Montgomery
1965 — John Edward Hopkins
1966 — Blair Phillips Friederich
1967 — Charles Bernard Shafer
1968 — Valerie Ann Voorhees
1969 — Pamela Sue Ritch
1970 — David Henry Wendelken
1971 — David Alan Goldsmith