L. E. Norton Invitational Speech Tournament Hosts 45 Teams

11/04/2010 4:14 PM

Peoria, IL (November 2, 2010) Bradley University will host 45 teams from around the country this weekend for the prestigious annual L.E. Norton Invitational Speech Tournament.

More than 90 classrooms on campus will be in use for the tournament that will include approximately 600 student competitors. And, nearly 45 Bradley Speech Team alumni will return for the weekend as coaches of participating teams or to judge events.

The team first hosted the L.E. Norton Invitational in 1947. This college individual events and debate tournament drew more than 1500 competitors from around the nation. Students competed in public speaking competitive events as listening, discussion, oratory and extemporaneous speaking.

The tournament is named for the former distinguished Chairperson of the Department of Communication, L.E. Norton.   While at Bradley, Norton founded Pi Kappa Delta, the honorary speech fraternity and served as the National President of the organization. He also coached the national championship GE College Bowl Team in 1969.

The L.E. Norton Invitational is considered one of the most prestigious individual speaking events tournaments for student in higher education in the country.