Document Type
Awareness of Forensics and Growth of the Activity
Abstract
In the past five years several well established forensic programs in our region have been discontinued. The reasons given to justify these decisions often centered on a lack of resources available to sustain the programs. Certainly the presence of scarce resources in an academic setting is understandable, but what many current coaches and competitors found especially concerning was the perceived lack of resistance by faculty at those institutions who were themselves once forensic competitors and coaches. In fact, in some cases former competitors were active and vocal supporters of the decision to end their institution‟s forensic program. The idea for this project developed as we discussed what might cause someone who once gained enormous benefits from the activity to willingly encourage the disbandment of a program. Our initial reactions were angry and defensive. As active participants in forensics who commit much of our professional and personal energies to the activity, we felt betrayed by our former colleagues. How could one time kindred spirits shift loyalties? Once our emotions had time to cool and we were able to gain perspective, we realized that our best reaction would be to stop speculating on the motives of others and actually conduct some research that might provide insight into how former competitors in forensics currently perceive the activity. Perhaps by understanding their perspectives, we as active forensic educators could nurture collaborative, rather than adversarial relationships.
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Recommended Citation
White, Leah; Schnoor, Larry; and Anderson, Grant
(2008)
"Perceptions of Past Competitors: Presentation of the Data,"
Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events: Vol. 4:
Iss.
1, Article 30.
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/ndcieproceedings/vol4/iss1/30