Welcome Heading link

The University of Illinois at Chicago Forensics Program is an intercollegiate speech team. We represent UIC at regional and national speech competitions (similar to the UIC basketball, track and other athletic teams).
Forensics is the study and practice of public speaking, oral interpretation and debate. Speakers and performers seek to move, persuade or inspire their audience.
While less than a decade old, the UIC Speech has been one of the most successful teams in UIC’s history ranking in the top 10 of teams in the nation; even earning the 2022 International and State Championships.
UIC Forensics Resource Page
Current Leadership Heading link
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Zoe Bridges
President
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Lavontae Morrow
Vice President
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Isabel Kapustka
Secretary / Treasurer
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Darrow Richmond
Social Chair / Historian
Coaching Staff Heading link
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Vance Pierce
Director of Forensics
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Amanda Colbert
Coach
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An'Tonai Boykin
Coach
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Brianna Willis
Coach
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Eric Long
Coach
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Jacoby Cochran
Coach
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Jacob Krol
Coach
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Maleeha Rasheed
Coach
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Michael Martinez
Coach
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Sunny Serres
Coach
Past Presidents Heading link
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Maleeha Rasheed
2021-2022
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Onyinye Udeogu
2020 – 2021
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Jacob Krol
2019 – 2020
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Michael Martinez
2016 – 2019
History & Results Heading link
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UIC Forensics History
It all started with a tweet. When Mikey Martinez was a freshman at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the winter of 2015, he was upset about them not having a platform for competitive public speaking. He took to social media, complaining “Why are we the only college in Illinois pretty much that doesn’t have a speech team?” UIC had a simple tweet in response: “well, start one,” and the UIC Speech journey began.
The spring of 2016 was a busy season of planning; President and Founder Mikey Martinez recruited Brittany Neloms and Meghna Peesapati to serve as the respective first Vice President and Treasurer of the team. The three of them fundraised, became a registered student organization, and recruited other members to help grow the UIC Speech Team’s legacy. The team’s first competition was MAFL 1-2 at Minnesota State University Mankato. Although they began with no formal coaches, Mikey, Brittany, and Meghna worked with future Vice President Sunil Dommaraju and future Treasurer Damon Horn to create a supportive peer coaching environment.
With their speeches memorized and practiced, Mikey, Brittany, Meghna, and Sunil drove themselves to their first competition. At MAFL 1, Mikey placed 4th in impromptu speaking, marking UIC’s first ever tournament final. At MAFL 2, Brittany brought home the team’s first tournament championship, winning Dramatic Interpretation. UIC’s breakout performance put the team on the map.
As the year progressed, the UIC Speech Team began to grow their network. Close relationships with Northwestern University, Bradley University, and Illinois State University allowed for the UIC students to learn and grow with their peers. The team grew, adding Jacob Krol (future President), Kris Trandai, and Nidhi Khare. This small and mighty squad handled all fundraising and operations logistics. With no formal coaching staff, the team finished their first year with five team trophies (including a 4th place finish at the esteemed ISU 74 Swing) and 59 regular season finalists.
At their first National Forensics Association tournament at the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire, the team boasted an impressive top 22 finish, placing 4th in President’s Division II. Sunil Dommaraju finished the NFA National Tournament as a two-time novice champion (Informative and Persuasive), as well as with a quarter final in Rhetorical Criticism, making Sunil UIC’s first ever competitor to make out rounds at a national competition.
UIC’s strong inaugural performance not only garnered the attention of UIC administration, but it also attracted some of the nation’s best coaches to UIC. Under the guidance of Vance Pierce, Mikey and the executive board were counseled on how to secure funding for team support. This allowed for Hananiah Wiggins, Sami White, Richie Hartz and Kyle Deininger to formally join the team as UIC’s first ever coaches. A limited budget catapulted the UIC team to new heights. In the 2017-2018 season, the team grew to 11 members, saw 119 tournament finalists, and earned 10 regular season team sweepstakes trophies. Mikey, Sunil, Nidhi, Jacob, and Brittany led the UIC team to a 17th place finish at UIC’s first ever American Forensics Association NIET at Colorado College, with Brittany becoming the team’s first ever national finalist (6th place in Dramatic Interpretation).
The UIC Team then traveled to the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh to compete in the National Forensics Association National Tournament; they did not disappoint. The team saw 11 events break into out-rounds, including a quarterfinal in impromptu from Nidhi, a semifinal in Extemp from Mikey, and a 4th place finish for Brittany in Dramatic Interpretation. Jaws of coaches from around the country dropped when UIC was announced as the 9th best team in the nation. In just two years, a top 10 ranked speech program was born.
The story continues…
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UIC Forensics Results
2021 National Forensics Association (NFA) Tournament
Extemporaneous Speaking
National Champion – Maleeha Rasheed
Impromptu Speaking
5th Place – Maleeha Rasheed
Prose Interpretation
Semi-Finalist – Jazz Jabulani
Duo Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Jaron Cano / Onyinye Udeogu
Quarter-Finalist – Zoe Bridges / Damian Samsonowicz
Octo-Finalist – Jazz Jabulani / Damian Samsonowicz
Rhetorical Criticism
Quarter-Finalist – Lavontae Morrow
Program Oral Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Lavontae Morrow
Quarter-Finalist – Damian Samsonowicz
Poetry Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Lavontae Morrow
Octo-Finalist – Jazz Jabulani
Octo-Finalist – Darrow Richmond
Octo-Finalist – Onyinye Udeogu
Dramatic Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Jazz Jabulani
Octo-Finalist – Onyinye Udeogu
Octo-Finalist – Damian Samsonowicz
Persuasive Speaking
Octo-Finalist – Damian Samsonowicz
Informative Speaking
Octo-Finalist – Zoe Bridges
Octo-Finalist – Lavontae Morrow
After Dinner Speaking
Octo-Finalist – Jazz Jabulani
Octo-Finalist – Onyinye Udeogu
Octo-Finalist – Maleeha Rasheed
Open Team Sweepstakes
8th Place
2021 American Forensics Association (AFA) Tournament
After Dinner Speaking
Semi-Finalist – Jazz Jabulani
Poetry Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Onyinye Udeogu
Informative Speaking
Quarter-Finalist – Jaron Cano
Prose Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Onyinye Udeogu
Program Oral Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Lavontae Morrow
Duo Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Damian Samsonowicz / Jazz Jabulani
Impromptu Speaking
Quarter-Finalist – Maleeha Rasheed
Open Team Sweepstakes
13th Place
2021 National Speech Championship (NSC)
After Dinner Speaking
Semi-Finalist – Jazz Jabulani
Quarter-Finalist – Maleeha Rasheed
Communication Analysis
6th Place – Damian Samsonowicz
Semi-Finalist – Lavontae Morrow
Informative Speaking
2nd Place – Zoe Bridges
Quarter-Finalist – Lavontae Morrow
Extemporaneous Speaking
Semi-Finalist – Chris Rapp
Quarter-Finalist – Maleeha Rasheed
Impromptu Speaking
National Champion – Maleeha Rasheed
Prose Interpretation
2nd Place – Onyinye Udeogu
Quarter-Finalist – Zoe Bridges
Poetry Interpretation
Semi-Finalist – Onyinye Udeogu
Quarter-Finalist – Lavontae Morrow
Duo Interpretation
Semi-Finalist – Damian Samsonowicz / Jazz Jabulani
Quarter-Finalist – Onyinye Udeogu / Jaron Cano
Interviewing
4th Place – Maleeha Rasheed
Program Oral Interpretation
5th Place – Damian Samsonowicz
Semi-Finalist – Lavontae Morrow
Dramatic Interpretation
4th Place – Damian Samsonowicz
Quarter-Finalist – Jazz Jabulani
Non-Scholarship Programs Sweepstakes
National Champions
Open Team Sweepstakes
5th Place
2021 Illinois Intercollegiate Forensics Association (IIFA) State Tournament
Poetry Interpretation
State Champion – Onyinye Udeogu
Dramatic Interpretation
State Champion – Damian Samsonowicz
Informative Speaking
State Champion – Zoe Bridges
2nd Place – Lavontae Morrow
3rd Place – Maleeha Rasheed
Duo Interpretation
State Champions – Onyinye Udeogu / Jaron Cano
3rd Place – Jazz Jabulani / Damian Samsonowicz
Impromptu Speaking
State Championship – Maleeha Rasheed
Extemporaneous Speaking
State Championship – Chris Rapp
Prose Interpretation
2nd Place – Onyinye Udeogu
5th Place – Zoe Bridges
After Dinner Speaking
3rd Place – Jazz Jabulani
Program Oral Interpretation
3rd Place – Damian Samsonowicz
Communication Analysis
5th Place – Damian Samsonowicz
Individual Speaker Sweepstakes
State Champion – Damian Samsonowicz
2nd Place – Onyinye Udeogu
Debate Individual Speaker Sweepstakes
5th Place – Maleeha Rasheed
Individual Events Team Sweepstakes
2nd Place
Open Team Sweepstakes
2nd Place
2020 Illinois Intercollegiate Forensics Association (IIFA) State Tournament
Dramatic Interpretation
4th Place – Onyinye Udeogu
Impromptu Speaking
3rd Place – Maleeha Rasheed
Communication Analysis
4th Place – Damian Samsonowicz
2019 National Forensics Association (NFA) Tournament
After Dinner Speaking
Octo-Final – Jacob Krol
Extemporaneous Speaking
Semi-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Quarter-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Quarter-Finalist – Nidhi Khare
Quarter-Finalist – Maleeha Rasheed
Impromptu Speaking
5th Place – Nidhi Khare
Semi-Finalist – Ashwini Deshpande
Quarter-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Octo-Finalist – Jacob Krol
Octo-Finalist – Maleeha Rasheed
Persuasive Speaking
Quarter-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Rhetorical Criticism
Octo-Finalist – Ashwini Deshpande
Octo-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Novice Prose Interpretation
4th Place – Jaron Cano
President’s One Division Team Sweepstakes
4th Place
Open Team Sweepstakes
11th Place
2019 American Forensics Association (AFA) Tournament
Extemporaneous Speaking
Quarter-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Impromptu Speaking
Semi-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Quarter-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
After Dinner Speaking
Semi-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Open Team Sweepstakes
16th Place
2019 Illinois Intercollegiate Forensics Association (IIFA) State Tournament
Communication Analysis
Top Novice – Maleeha Rasheed
Extemporaneous Speaking
2nd Place – Jacob Krol
3rd Place – Mikey Martinez
Impromptu Speaking
4th Place – Mikey Martinez
5th Place – Jacob Krol
2018 National Forensics Association (NFA) Tournament
After Dinner Speaking
Octo-Finalist – Damon Horn
Octo-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Dramatic Interpretation
4th Place – Brittany Neloms
Extemporaneous Speaking
Semi-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Octo-Finalist – Ashwini Deshpande
Octo-Finalist – Jacob Krol
Impromptu Speaking
Quarter-Finalist – Nidhi Khare
Quarter-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Octo-Finalist – Meghna Peesapati
Informative Speaking
Octo-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Persuasive Speaking
Octo-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Poetry Interpretation
Semi-Finalist – Brittany Neloms
Rhetorical Criticism
Quarter-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Octo-Finalist – Meghna Peesapati
Novice Informative Speaking
2nd Place – Ashwini Deshpande
Novice Persuasive Speaking
4th Place – Ashwini Deshpande
President’s One Division Team Sweepstakes
2nd Place
Open Team Sweepstakes
9th Place
2018 American Forensics Association (AFA) Tournament
Communication Analysis
Semi-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Quarter-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Dramatic Interpretation
6th Place – Brittany Neloms
Open Team Sweepstakes
17th Place
2018 National Speech Championship (NSC)
After Dinner Speaking
4th Place – Damon Horn
Prose Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Damon Horn
2017 National Forensics Association (NFA) Tournament
Rhetorical Criticism
Quarter-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Novice Informative Speaking
National Champion – Sunil Dommaraju
Novice Persuasive Speaking
National Champion – Sunil Dommaraju
President’s II Division Team Sweepstakes
4th Place
Open Team Sweepstakes
22nd Place
2017 National Speech Championship (NSC)
After Dinner Speaking
Quarter-Finalist – Jacob Krol
Communication Analysis
Quarter-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Quarter-Finalist – Jacob Krol
Dramatic Interpretation
Semi-Finalist – Brittany Neloms
Extemporaneous Speaking
Semi-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Quarter-Finalist – Meghna Peesapati
Impromptu Speaking
Semi-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Quarter-Finalist – Nidhi Khare
Informative Speaking
Quarter-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Quarter-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Persuasive Speaking
Quarter-Finalist – Sunil Dommaraju
Quarter-Finalist – Damon Horn
Poetry Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Mikey Martinez
Quarter-Finalist – Damon Horn
Program Oral Interpretation
Quarter-Finalist – Damon Horn
Open Team Sweepstakes
16th Place