A
t his retirement party in 2012, one of the speakers described Dennis Beagen as “the architect of the
greatest forensics program in collegiate history.” Such statements often contain at least a little hyperbole, but whether the word “forensics” is used to mean competitive speech or a crime-solving tool, it connotes a dedication to truth. That program is Eastern’s, and the claim to greatness is inarguable. EMU’s is the only program in the country that has placed in the top 10 at every National Forensics Association collegiate tournament since the first one in 1971, capturing nine NFA team and 70 individual titles along the way. “Imagine a college basketball team that’s been in the Sweet Sixteen every single year they’ve had a program,” says Todd Ambs, captain of the 1980 national champs and now the director of the Healing Our Waters/Great Lakes Coalition. “That’s what the forensics team has done.” The sports metaphor is apt--not that you’ll find many
Dodger Stadium scoreboard
forensics types using the inapt variety. It could also fairly, and probably truthfully, be said that Beagen was the architect of modern collegiate forensics. “Dennis took a lot of lessons from being involved in athletics,
and transferred them into the competitive speech domain,” says Ray Quiel, who was an assistant to Beagen and served as the program’s director from 2001 to 2012. “He started the idea of event coaches, so we got to focus our energies as teachers and coaches. He started having camps, like band camp, where we would meet and work in the off-season. And prior to the national tournament, he would take us out of school for five whole days and we’d take over a floor in Hoyt dorm, just like an athletic team going to a national tournament.” Beagen became chair of the Department of Communication,
Theater and Media Arts in 1981, and Quiel and Carole Bennett were interim co-directors for a year. Jerry Bluhn was in charge from 1983-1986, Denise Gorsline in 1986-87 and Michael Tew in 1987-2001. Eastern won its most recent national team titles in 1986 and 1987. “Other schools started to send their grad students here
to learn what we called the Eastern method and take that philosophy back home,” Quiel adds. “At one time, I counted 17 head coaches who were all alums of Eastern.”
18 Eastern | SPRING 2014
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he four competitive groupings in forensics are prepared public speaking, limited prep public speaking, oral
interpretation of literature, and debate. Most competitors specialize, and one of Beagen’s most effective techniques was to “borrow” talented theater students for “interp” duty at major tournaments. But building team spirit
in a competition that, like swimming or gymnastics, is an accumulation of individual events, is a challenge; you can’t throw a block or set a pick in forensics. “Dennis really got you
to understand the concept of team, the importance of working very, very hard not just for yourself but also for the group,” says Ambs. “He also really grilled into folks that it was a special privilege
to represent Eastern Michigan. We were taught to be respectful, polite, responsive audience members and, while doing all that, be damn tough competitors. “At the same time, he was also quick to let everybody know
that you could have a great deal of fun as well, especially after you won. The song that I always associate with Dennis is ‘Scotch and Soda.’ In many settings, I think of him, arm in arm with other folks, singing that song.”
Eastern’s competitive speech program, he steered it away from the activity that had comprised the bulk of its efforts and toward the individual events, a.k.a. forensics. An opportunity beckoned. It wasn’t exactly the opportunity he had envisioned when he
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arrived on campus as a student. Beagen had played basketball for some successful teams at St. Mary of Redford High School in Detroit. He thought he could do the same at Eastern, until reality set in. “I learned I wasn’t fast enough, tall enough or good enough,” he says. But, he says, “I always thought I wanted to be a basketball
coach,” and he was smart enough for that. After he became involved in forensics, he saw that there was a competitive opening in the field and that there was lots of room for growth in coaching it. “There’s one example that I am proud of,” Beagen admits.
When students who were preparing a performance of poetry or a scene from a novel or play got to the point where they felt
he debate boat was crowded,” says Beagen. That’s why, when he took over as director of
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