South Dakota Mines hasn’t hosted a speech team in a half-century, but its legacy is living on through a new tournament.
Named for a legendary coach, advocate alumni say it’s the first step toward reestablishing a Hardrocker speech team.
Howard Wells, known affectionately as “Coach” to members of the Pi Kappa Delta forensics team, is the namesake for the newly established tournament occurring on campus this week.
A successful ensemble at regional and national levels, the team’s golden age came in the 1960s.
Hence the establishment of an endowment fund to magnify Wells legacy, impact on students, and the value of speech programs.
The fund was established by Randy Parcel and Marvin Truhe, class of ’67.
“They had several very good years as I recall from about 1959 when he instituted the program," Truhe said. "Fast forward, Randy and I both attended the Northwestern University law school after we graduated from Tech. In my case, even going law school was primarily Coach Wells encouraging me to do that.”
Truhe said he hopes this rebuild speech on campus.
“I’m really looking forward to it, hoping this will become an annual event, and frankly that it’ll – at some point – morph into getting active speech back on campus including debate,” Truhe said.
Helping to run the tournament is humanities department head Kyle Knight. He said despite the school's scientific background, communication is an extremely valuable skill.
“We hope this inspires all students to peruse growth in their communications skills," Knight said. "I think that ties into what Marv and Randy hope to see is the outcome. That we engrain in the campus culture this value of communicating effectively.”
The first-prize winners receive a $2,000 dollar award, and the tournament runs this week.