Senior Colloquim and Senior Orations Records
Senior Orations essays are presented by students nominated by faculty members at the Senior Colloquium. A winner, chosen by faculty, is awarded the A. D. Ward medal. The collection contains essays written by nominees and winners, sample scoring sheets, winners' names from 1868-2012, and other information about the colloquium.
Biographical and Historical Note
In the first year of Wake Forest Institution, 1834, students organized a debating society. Soon after the opening of the second session in 1835, students organized two groups, the Euzelians and the Philomathesians. These two literary societies promoted debate and oratory at all special occasions of the college. At first, all members of the senior class were expected to speak unless excused by the faculty. In the early 1880s, the number of speakers was fixed at ten; others in the class wrote a thesis. One winner was chosen from the three finalists. In 1899, the number of speakers was reduced to eight, in 1909, to six, and in 1924, to four. In 1972, the Dean of the College reduced the number of speakers to three.
Presently all faculty members are invited to nominate students. The nominees submit an essay, which is read by a committee of five. This committee consists of University faculty and staff. From the group of nominees, the top 12 to 15 essays are chosen. These students are invited to speak at a dinner at the President's house before a panel of faculty members, which does not contain the same members from the initial reading. After the students have spoken, they leave and the faculty panel chooses one winner and two runners up. With each new Dean of the College, procedures change. In recent years all three have all been considered winners. Currently there is one winner. All three speak at the Honors and Awards Ceremony held the day before commencement.
The winner is given the A. D. Ward medal. The A. D. Ward award was created by Professor and Associate Dean Billy Hamilton in 1984 and is given to the winners of the Senior Colloquium. The charm was designed by Josten's after the one Robert Helm was awarded in 1939.
Collection Overview
This collection contains essays written by nominees from 1975-2012, along with one undated essay. Other materials include sample scoring sheets, winners' names from 1868-1997, and other information about the colloquium for the given year. Some years contain non-finalist submissions for that year. There are also some planning materials for the colloquium.Every effort has been made to identify all essays within this collection. Many years contain only the three finalists; some contain only their names, with no physical location in the collection.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by: John Woodard; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex, 2005
- Revision Description
- Revised by Stephanie Bennett, given new RG classification and brought up to current finding aid standards, 2023-2024
- Revision Description
- Revised by Meg Campbell, new materials added, 2024 March
- Access Restrictions
- This collection is open for use.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- Senior Colloquim and Senior Orations Records (RG4.7), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.