Submitted by Steve Oldfield, assistant professor, Department of Creative Media

This semester’s Tom Talks speakers shared some powerful, personal stories, in a program that looked at everything from overcoming anorexia and suicide attempts to the debate over who’s the GOAT: Michael Jordan or Lebron James.

Every student in Professor Steve Oldfield’s Com 105 Public Speaking class is required to deliver a mini-TED talk, named ‘Tom Talks’ after Thomas More.  From in-class speeches of 63 students, 22 were selected for the Tom Talks finals, held for the first time in 2024 in Ziegler Auditorium in the new Academic Building.

Rea Seele, a South African student on Thomas More’s rugby team, once again acted as the evening’s host. Rea also visits the classroom throughout the semester, working with students on their speeches. 

The audience of more than 100 people voted for their favorites and the top three received prizes. First year student Daisy Flannery received the most votes. She lost her father in May 2024 and found herself a ward of the state facing homelessness. She revealed that at one point, she contemplated suicide but because of the support she received from professors and staff at Thomas More, she stayed in school this semester and continues to thrive. Daisy praised the ‘family atmosphere’ here at the University. Sophomore Phoebe Eldridge spoke about bouncing back after a suicide attempt last Fall.  She achieved a 3.3 GPA in Spring 2024 compared to a 0.15 for the previous Fall semester. Phoebe and Daisy received trophies and a cash prize. Third place vote getter Dylan Ruschman spoke about his love for baseball and the Cincinnati Reds and how going to games with his father has enriched his family’s life. He received a baseball bat autographed by Reds Hall of Famer George Foster.

First year student Paige Nielander received the Judges Award for her talk about how creative writing and acting have helped her to overcome anorexia and self-harm. Other popular speeches included Ramzi Termanini’s story of escaping war-torn Syria to play soccer here at Thomas More; and a spirited debate over the basketball skills of Michael Jordan and Lebron James, featuring Thomas More football players Carter Sanders and Zecharia Dabney, who projected highlight videos of the players on the giant screens throughout the state-of-the-art Ziegler Auditorium. 

Two other speakers were honored with The Gordon Award, as most improved speakers this semester.  The award is named after former Tom Talks finalist Gordon Huston, whose ability to speak was greatly affected by an operation to ease seizures caused by epilepsy. Gordon, whose family sponsors the award,  presented trophies to Grace Caudle and Trevor Wilcox. Trevor is a first year student on the wrestling team and he came straight to the Tom Talks after winning a home match against a wrestler from the University of Findlay.

The event featured two professional speakers as judges: John Jemail, a St. Xavier High School and Brown University graduate who has delivered nearly 10,000 presentations around the world for Robbins Sports Surfaces; and Brad Fritz, a 2008 Thomas More graduate in communication who delivers motivational speeches about the dangers of drinking and driving to students across the Greater Cincinnati area.