Orator in Residence Program
In keeping with its mission to support the pursuit of speaking proficiency as a lifelong endeavor, the Speech Center inaugurated an Orator in Residence Program in 2001. The program brings to the University of Richmond individuals of varied backgrounds and careers who are known as leaders in their field, in part because they are articulate spokespersons for their ideas.
Dana Gioia, nationally known poet and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, was the University's Second Orator in Residence. Author of several books and provocative essays including "Can Poetry Matter?" Mr. Gioia visited Richmond September 30-October 1. The theme of the 2004 program was based on interpretations of Plato's Phaedrus, the relationship between the poet and the business professional--what Richard Weaver termed "an immortal feud."
Our first Orator in Residence, Reid Buckley, spent two days coaching, teaching and presenting first-rate oratory in workshops and lecture halls. This author, playwright, founder and president of the Buckley School for Public Speaking left no doubt as to why he has earned the reputation "the brutal tutor." His final address to a crowded Alumni Center Pavilion on October 5, 2001, gave members of the Greater Richmond community a taste of the fervor and force Buckley lends to ideas, and in so doing, he becomes a powerful and eloquent advocate.
