The 14th annual Oratory Event is Saturday at the University of Alaska Southeast. The day-long event, based in Alaska Native languages, includes storytelling, speeches and dramatic presentations of poetry, songs and more.
“It’s really amazing to watch the students in action,” said Kolene James on a KTOO’s Juneau Afternoon. James is the director of the Native and Rural Student Center at UAS that organizes the event.
“They’re really passionate about their presentations. They really put their heart into their presentations and you can tell when they get up to the microphone, they just emote their energy, their love into their presentations. So it’s pretty inspiring,” said James.
Participants’ presentations must be between 5 and 15 minutes long and this year’s theme is equity.
“We have students who are talking about environmental issues, they’re talking about education and their concerns, they’re talking about the health care system and unmet needs in their home communities. We have students from all over Alaska who are attending UAS. We even have a student from Hawaii who is going to participate as well and there’s a lot of similarities in the inequities that we experience in both states, Hawaii and Alaska. This is a great opportunity to hear our college students, and if we have some brave high school students, what’s on their mind,” said James.
In the theme of equity, all participants will receive help with tuition. The free event begins at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Egan Lecture Hall.
