The first-ever Hilliard Showcase, a competition for University of Central Arkansas freshmen and sophomore speech students, will be featured Tuesday, April 26 at 7 p.m. in Thompson Hall, room 206.
The event is free and open to the public. Members of UCA and the Conway community are encouraged to attend. The winner of the competition will receive a $500 award, provided through the Olive M. Hilliard Award Fund.
The competition is held in memory of the late Olive M. Hilliard, a professor at UCA from 2003 until her death in 2010. Hilliard, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, contributed to the local community through various organizations, taught in Academic Outreach, the Department of Writing and the Department of Speech and Public Relations, and was a respected teacher, colleague, mother and friend.
Instructors nominate freshmen and sophomores who have given extraordinary speeches in the introductory communication course, Speech 1300 – Basic Oral Communication. Nominees must also demonstrate a potential for leadership in and out of the classroom, have a desire to impact their community in a positive fashion and exemplify Hilliard’s character, including caring for others, generosity, compassion, friendliness and a sense of humor.
“We thought we could best honor her contribution to our department by doing something for the students she spent the most time with — the students in our general education course,” said Dr. Monika Alston-Miller, assistant professor of speech and public relations. “We look forward to growing the Olive M. Hilliard Award Fund so that we can give out scholarships in the coming years of the contest.”
Anyone interested in contributing to the fund should contact the department of speech and public relations or the UCA Foundation. For more information regarding the fund or the competition, contact Alston-Miller at (501) 852-2350 or AlstonM@uca.edu.