1) Cindy Meier (MA81), Denise Burr (MA79), Christine Dewalt Burdett (BS86), Rodney Slater (BS77, HPS96) and Rory Rice (BS79)
2) Dan Vice (BS77)—called “the glue that held us all together” by Dennis Beagen—leads the “forensics choir” during a 1999 event held in his honor; he passed away shortly afterward
1 “They tend to be very outspoken and
intelligent,” says Alderdice, “and there’s a curiosity in forensics students, either to understand the human condition through literature or to understand the way the world works through politics and current events. It’s more than just trophies. It takes a lot of courage for students to put their ideas and their hopes and beliefs out there in a public setting for a stranger to judge, then forget that and be willing to do it all over again the next weekend. The activity really teaches you how to deal with falling short of your own expectations.”
national champs and the individual champion in persuasive speaking in the latter year. “You learn that other people have opinions about how you can get better.” Now the vice president of enterprise litigation for USAA, a financial services company for members of the military and their dependents, she learned some other skills at Eastern that have served her well. “I didn’t know then that I had a front-row seat to real
“Y
leadership,” she says. “Dennis was superb at not only identifying talent but developing talent, and those same tenets are so important to building a high-performing team and delivering results. Now that I’m in a leadership role, I borrow a lot from what I watched as a college student. What you learn on a team like that, where you have brilliant minds and superb actors and actresses, is what I often quote today in my job: If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”
A
fter one of his middle school teachers humiliated him in front of a class, “I felt like I didn’t have a voice as a
student,” says Arthur Valenzuela, “and I don’t think I found that voice until I started competing in forensics.”
20 Eastern | SPRING 2014
He was in a performing arts 2
ou learn how to get critiqued,” says Annmarie Mungo Simonson, a member of the 1980 and 1981
magnet program at Hollywood High School (yes, that one) when his debate teacher, clearly a superior educator, recruited him for competitive speaking and performing. “I had no idea there was any such thing,” he says. Although he loved performing and envisioned a career on the stage, he also struggled with severe social anxiety. Nonetheless, he gave it a shot. “Within my first year of
competing, I felt like forensics
alleviated a lot of those anxieties, and because of that it has led me pretty far into my career both academically and professionally,” Valenzuela says. Now the co-assistant director of forensics and a full-time lecturer, he credits forensics, along with Amy Johnson, with helping him find a calling as well as a voice. Even though it happened by chance, Valenzuela was the first
of what has become a steady stream of Eastern recruits from southern California. Quiel was visiting family there when he happened to see a banner proclaiming Los Angeles Valley College’s national community college forensics championship. He sought out one of the team’s co-directors to see if any of their students were interested in Eastern. Valenzuela was, and so far he’s stayed put. “I wouldn’t be here in this job if I had not received what I have
from this activity,” he says. “Because forensics was compelling for me in that personal aspect, it helped me to realize that it can empower students in many different ways. When we say we want students to become critical thinkers and effective communicators, there’s no activity that better facilitates those tools.”
championship teams in the ’70s. “He would talk to professors “D
ennis didn’t just recruit in high schools,” says Dale Heydlauff, who was part of four national
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