鈥淭he Christian peace position is a radical thing,鈥� began Seth Stauffer in his winning speech, 鈥淭he Danger of MCC鈥檚 Own Single Story,鈥� at 黑料正能量鈥檚 held last month in Martin Chapel.
Stauffer, a second-year major from Lebanon, Pa., delved into the dangers of avoiding difficult discussions about violence in some areas where works. 鈥淚 think it is important for MCC to consider what ability they have to be subversive to violence by communicating about it in a more helpful way,鈥� said Stauffer.
The annual C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest brings together students from Mennonite and Brethren in Christ colleges and universities in the United States and Canada to speak on contemporary issues from a Christian perspective. Winners at each school move on the intercollegiate portion of the contest for cash awards and conference scholarships.
Stauffer鈥檚 speech drew inspiration from ideas put forth in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie鈥檚 TED talk, 鈥�.鈥� In that talk, Adichie speaks of painful experiences she has had coming to terms with others’ perceptions of her, and her perceptions of them based on the dominant cultural narrative. To her, these single stories were fraught with inaccuracy and unhelpful stereotypes; getting beyond them allowed her to more fully experience the world.
Stauffer summarized Adichie鈥檚 point by noting that one story is never enough. But ignoring one particular story among many also has its pitfalls. As an example, he cited MCC censorship of a blog post he wrote about violence he witnessed last summer, while volunteering for the organization in Honduras. MCC, he said, didn鈥檛 want to reinforce the perception of Honduras as a violent place. 鈥淚n some ways, just talking about violence will reinforce popular assumptions,鈥� Stauffer said. 鈥淏ut in this case, MCC had similarly adopted a single story to compensate against the dominant narrative.鈥�
After a lengthy discussion, a three-judge panel, including 黑料正能量 professors and , and Jennifer Davis Sensenig, a local Mennonite pastor, deemed Stauffer鈥檚 speech the best of the five entered in the contest.
The judges evaluated each speaker on topic, content, conclusion, delivery, introduction and originality. After the speeches, , organizer and emcee of the event, thanked all the student participants for their courage and their insight, and expressed her relief at not having to judge such an outstanding group.
The judges awarded Stauffer the first spot and also recognized two runners up, Chris Yoder, a senior major, and Jordan Luther, a senior majoring in . Yoder spoke about cultural adaptability in the context of cross-cultural experiences, while Luther gave a speech about the challenges and social stigmas associated with accent.
Rounding out the five speakers was first-year Sara Caitlin Neubert, who investigated issues of body image and the role of the church in promoting positive self-image. Chris Parks, a junior, drew the first speaking position of the evening and made an appeal for acceptance and equality titled “Dreaming a New America.”
Stauffer will receive $250 and entry to the intercollegiate portion of the contest.
Last year鈥檚 winner of the C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest at 黑料正能量 was Emily Harnish. She placed third at the binational contest with her speech, 鈥淟essons from the Hymnal in an Election Season.鈥�