The UW-Eau Claire Forensics team hosted the annual Wisconsin Love Fest Swing over Valentine’s Day weekend.
The Love Fest Swing featured two tournaments. The first of these tournaments — the Grace Walsh Individual Events Tournament — was hosted by the UW-Eau Claire forensics team, making them unable to compete.
The second tournament — the We Love Forensics Alumni Tournament — run by UW-Eau Claire Alumni, saw multiple Blugolds qualify for national tournaments.
As the hosts of the Grace Walsh Individual Events Tournament, UW-Eau Claire Forensics Director Chris Outzen said the team had to prepare in ways entirely different from how they would for any other tournament.
“We have to think about what we like about competitions at other schools and how we [can] replicate that,” Outzen said. “The team members are responsible for crafting prompts that students will have to do and generating fun experiences.”
Austyn Clemen, president of UW-Eau Claire forensics and a fourth-year sociology and communication studies student, said she appreciates how hosting gives her team the opportunity to show off the campus to visitors while also helping out the community.
“We do a charity drive at Love Fest,” Clemen said. “Every year, we partner with Bolton Refuge House, and we collect money by having students and coaches attending the tournament buy Valentine’s [Day] cards that they can send to each other.”
Clemen said the UW-Eau Claire forensics team also raised money for Bolton Refuge House by putting on the “Cupid Brigade,” which Clemen described as “homecoming royalty for forensics.”
Tournament attendees voted with their money for a “love champion,” and all proceeds went to the Bolton Refuge House.
The second tournament of the weekend, the We Love Forensics Alumni Tournament, also hosted the Wisconsin state qualification tournament for the Interstate Oratory Contest (IOC).
Clemen placed first in the qualification tournament, while fourth-year student Hal Leroy placed second, marking the fifth consecutive year UW-Eau Claire has represented both Wisconsin slots in the IOC and the 29th consecutive year UW-Eau Claire has had at least one representative.
Fourth-year student Ariel Nelson placed third in this tournament, making her the alternate for IOC in case either Clemen or Leroy are unable to attend. First-year student Lottie Wells placed sixth.
Nelson also won the Afterdinner Speaking category of the We Love Forensics tournament, qualifying her for the National Forensic Association Championship Tournament.
According to Clemen, this will be her second time competing in the IOC after qualifying last year, and she’s excited for the opportunity after not advancing to later rounds of the tournament in 2025.
“I’m always improving my skills both in delivery and in my writing and evidence,” Clemen said. “This year, I feel like I’ve learned and grown so much, and to have another opportunity to go to this tournament and show what I can do is really exciting.”
At Love Fest Swing, the UW-Eau Claire forensics team also celebrated the retirement of Kelly Jo Wright, a communications professor who worked at the university and as the forensics team’s coach and assistant director for 34 years. She retires as the longest-serving coach and assistant director in the program’s history.
Wright said she felt honored to be recognized at the tournament and to be connected with a figure as nationally recognized in forensics as Grace Walsh.
“It was very humbling; I was overwhelmed,” Wright said. “I was humbled at the number of alumni who came back [and] the number of alumni who couldn’t be here over the weekend but sent a note or a donation to our Forensics Legacy Fund. I’ve been deeply honored with all of that.”
Wright said she is retiring largely due to burnout and the heavy responsibility placed on forensics coaches, yet she is very grateful for the community UW-Eau Claire forensics gave her.
“I’ve lasted twice as long as most coaches last, and I [stuck around for] the students,” Wright said. “They are my chosen family, and I’ve always loved working with them.”
For students looking to get involved with forensics, Outzen said all they need to do is reach out to him, and the team usually looks for new members between August and early October.
As for students who aren’t interested, Outzen said there are still ways they can support the team.
“We hold fundraisers from time to time, but in the spring, we also hold the Evening of Champions,” Outzen said. “It’s a showcase of some of the work we’ve done over the year for the university community and the Eau Claire community. If students are interested in supporting us, [they can] come out and see what we do, then share the word.”
According to Outzen, the entire forensics team is excited for the rest of their season but also for the new era they will be entering.
“[Wright] is retiring after she served as long, if not a little bit longer, than Grace Walsh,” Outzen said. “I am so proud of this team and very proud to be here at what I think is a turning point for the team in terms of its legacy.”
Coleman can be reached at [email protected].
