Editor's Note: This is one in an occasional series about EMU student teams, clubs and organizations. For more information about student groups, visit the university website's Campus Life pages.
Forensics is a word mostly associated with crime and science, applying scientific knowledge to the quest for truth. Eastern Michigan University's award-winning forensics team focuses on another definition: the art or study of argumentative discourse.
"Our team also seeks truth, not with fingerprints and blood trails, but through communication and performance," team members explained on their web pages on the university website. "Whether persuading an audience that legal reform is needed or exploring the emotional truths of the human experience, competitors seek to give an audience a greater understanding of our world and our place within it."
Olivia Wetzel, a senior and president of EMU’s Forensics Team, said forensics was originally used to discuss discourse and conversation.
The Latin root of the word forensics has a meaning of public or of belonging to a forum or public. A forum was a public space, or square, where legal issues were debated or civic dicussions held in public.
That's what EMU’s forensic team does best: Speak and act in public competition against teams from other universities across the nation.
“It’s a great place for you to craft your identity, your message, who you are, and what you want to do in the world with a group of people that are incredibly supportive,” Wetzel said of the team and the competition. “You have coaches from anywhere who want to see you grow as a performer and as a speaker. The people you’re competing against also have that same drive and motivation.”
Wetzel, who is from Ohio, had an early introduction to forensics as she debated in third and fourth grade. Her parents also became coaches for debate teams; so, she was there whenever they had competitions. Because she was so often present in debate environments, she decided she’d give it a try. Wetzel’s stepdad was a debate coach and knew students who went to EMU who are from their home state. Since Wetzel had been surrounded by forensics her whole life, she said her stepdad was proud that she ventured into the field.
Teagan Fuller, also an Ohio native, is a senior and vice president of the forensics team. Fuller said he became interested in the forensics team because he did speech and debate during high school. He knew a friend who was going to EMU on a full-ride scholarship and joining the forensics team. So, from the time he was a high school freshman, Fuller said, he knew he wanted to join EMU’s team.
EMU was one of the first universities to join the National Forensics Association in the 1970s. Since then, EMU's team has placed in the Top 10 nationwide in forensics competition. In April 2023, the team placed second at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. Since then, the team has placed third at the National Forensic Association Championships.
That national championship is the focus for the team's practice and preparation each school year. The team calls it “N-F-A Prep.”
Throughout the fall and spring semester, tournaments are spread out. At the beginning of the school year, the team practices mostly for invitational tournaments. For national season preparation, there are changes.
Wetzel said that in the 70s, when the forensics team didn’t have as much financial security, they would get on a bus and travel to a city where the national tournament was held. On the way to the tournament, the team would dedicate each day to practicing and perfecting speeches that they’d been working on all year.
Today, the forensics team spends about four or five days going to a campground for team bonding and working with coaches to perfect speeches before the national tournament, Wetzel said.
People who are hesitant to join a student organization like EMU’s Forensics team remind Wetzel about a time from high school, she said.
“My team talked a lot about public speaking not being exactly a normal thing for people to do,” Wetzel said. “There was a study done, and it said that when people were asked what their fears were, public speaking was ranked above death itself, and I think that’s so interesting.”
The study Wetzel referred to draws back to a Bruskin Associates' 1973 survey; 41% of participants in that study said public speaking was their greatest fear.
Wetzel said that although public speaking can sound daunting and intimidating, the team's tournaments have small audiences and are conducted in small rooms. The normal audience size is about six to seven people, not a thousand, she said.
Fuller said the only time there’s an audience is for finalists at the nationals. He said that one time his finals for nationals were held inside a university’s movie theater.
“Every seat was filled in that theater, and then you have people recording you for video archives,” Fuller said. “So, the final is a pretty intense moment, but typically your standard grounds for invitational tournaments, it’s very comfortable and manageable.”
Wetzel described her second final as being packed because people were hiding in the back corner, sitting on the ground, and trying to fill as much space as possible.
A time when Wetzel was most worried during a competition was in the spring of 2025, when she performed a limited-time event. In competition, 11 various events fall under three categories known as interpretation, public address, and limited-prep.
Wetzel said the limited preparation events are either extemporaneous or impromptu. Both are comprised of a question on either politics, the world, or current events. In an extemporaneous event, a speech is created in 30 minutes to answer that question.
“After the 30 minutes are up, you immediately go to a room where you’ll perform for seven people,” Wetzel said. “You get limited notes, you don’t get to read off of a script or have time to memorize in your brain.”
An impromptu speech, however, must be created in just a couple minutes to showcase to the audience. The National Forensic Association rules allow for seven minutes, and the speech must last at least five, so that leaves two or less to prepare.
Wetzel said she made the top six in the nation for extemporaneous and impromptu events and it was the most nervous she had been in her college career. She also said she was shocked she made it that far and can’t remember how she felt during the performances. She does remember the topic being about Sudan and South Sudan.
“I kind of blacked out during both of those performances. My brain was just not there," Wetzel said. "I was like, 'OK, do the speech,' and then all of a sudden, I’m walking out of the room.”
Fuller said Wetzel’s experience reminded him of his first national tournament with the American Forensics Association, which came before nationals. His rivals had been in finals previously; he hadn't. Even so, Fuller said, he wasn’t nervous. Instead, he was excited because he didn’t think he’d be capable of making it so far.
“I feel like I kind of blacked out too, but it was like a good kind of blackout,” Fuller said. “Afterward, I put too much pressure on myself to achieve that same success and didn’t make it to nationals, but I made it to semi-finals.”
