CONTRIBUTED BY LUCY ALLEN
THE OAKS AGENCY
AUBURN— Auburn Speaks, the AU School of Communication and Journalism’s biannual public speaking competition, took place on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at the Jay and Susie Gouge Performing Arts Center.
Students in Jennifer Johnson’s COMM 1000 class are elected to compete by their classmates. After the semi-finals, six finalists are chosen by a panel of judges and compete for the Philip Lutzenkirchen Excellence in Public Speaking Award, named in honor of the former AU communications graduate and football player, who passed away in 2014 in a driving accident.
Freshman marketing and music major Dalton Dismukes was named the Fall 2023 winner of the award with his speech titled, “Role of a Conductor.”
Dismukes said his inspiration for this topic came from his love for conducting music and wanting to share the process with others.
“After a football game, I was wearing my marching band shirt and with a few friends,” he said. “A guy in our elevator asked, ‘So the guy on the podium, does he actually do anything?’ and that made me think this might be interesting.”
Walter Reed placed second with his speech titled, “Dr. Walter Reed – More than a Name,” and Seth Wiley took third place with his speech, “Sound in Cinema.”
The Philip Lutzenkirchen Excellence in Public Speaking Award is presented each year by Lutzie43, a foundation that aims to share that decisions as drivers and friends can make a lasting impact. Mike Lutzenkirchen, Philip’s father, was joined by Auburn’s Assistant Chief of Police Clarence Stewart on stage at the competition for a question and answer session on driving and pedestrian safety.
“It’s a wonderful way for our family and foundation to stay connected to Auburn, and we are grateful that Jennifer Johnson reached out to us with this idea many years ago,” Mike said. “She was a professor that had Philip in four or five classes, and this competition continues his legacy and keeps an imprint on what we are doing here at Auburn.”