Randy Franco, president of NorthWest Arkansas Community College’s Speech and Debate Team, recently qualified for the 2014 Interstate Oratory Association National Championship.
Franco won second place overall at the Southern Forensics Championship event held Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 in Hattiesburg, Miss. He is from Bentonville.
For nearly 150 years, Interstate Oratory has taken only the top two students from each state to compete for title of top orator, and all students at the competition have their speeches published in the journal “Winning Orations.”
Franco is the first student from NWACC to earn a bid to this tournament, which will be held April 25-26 at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.Faculty member Erick Roebuck is the coach for the college’s new speech and debate team.