(Posted February 26, 2007)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Seven Juniata College students will present their vision for a sustainable future at the annual John M. and Thomas F. Bailey Oratorical Contest, to be held at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27 in the von Liebig Theatre in the Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts. Admission is free and the event is open to the public. The contest asks students to write and deliver a persuasive speech addressing the topic: \"What local and/or global solutions to sustainability challenges would you recommend and why?\" A preliminary competition was held Feb. 17 to narrow the field of 32 student participants. Seven student speechmakers will take part in the final competition. The seven finalists are junior Adam Stanley, of Huntingtown, Md., and seniors Elena Amato, of Baltimore, Md.; Laura Drews, of Centreville, Md.; Lisa Detweiler, of Berwyn, Pa.; John Peter Melle, of Phoenixville, Pa.; Magda Sarnowska, an international student from Mazowieckie, Poland; and Josh Scacco, of Lebanon, Pa. The judges for the preliminary competition were Jane Croyle, a 1995 graduate who currently works in Juniata\'s enrollment offices; Sean Waddle, a 2005 Juniata graduate and director of the Huntingdon County Visitor\'s Bureau; and Matt Skolnik, a minister of discipleship at Thomas Presbyterian Church in Eighty-Four, Pa. and a graduate student at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Judges for the final competition are: Leigh Ann Wilson is a 2002 Juniata graduate and regional marketing coordinator for H.W. Lochner, an engineering consulting firm based in Chicago, Ill. She also teaches marketing courses at the Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts. Wilson won the Bailey Oratorical Contest in 2002. She also went on to earn a master\'s degree in business administration in 2005 from Penn State Behrend. Her first job upon graduation from Juniata was as an admissions counselor at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, and was subsequently promoted to communications assistant in the college\'s marketing department Matthew Peters is a 2001 Juniata graduate, and earned a bachelor\'s degree in communication, politics and philosophy. Currently, he is working on his doctoral degree at Penn State\'s College of Information Sciences and Technology, where he holds the Lockheed-Martin Distinguished Scholars Fellowship. He also maintains a career as a consultant, working for such companies as Oracle, Lockheed-Martin and EMC. He earned a master\'s degree in media studies from Penn State and also served as assistant director of the Pennsylvania Governor\'s School for Information Technology. Charles W. \"Bud\" Wise is vice president of human resources at PPG Industries in Pittsburgh, Pa. He is a current member of Juniata\'s board of trustees and worked as a professor of business at Juniata from 1973 to 1979. He started his business career with PPG in 1969, working in a company glass plant in Mount Vernon, Ohio. He then became employment and training supervisor at the company\'s automotive glass plant in Tipton, Pa. He left PPG in 1973 and returned as manager of training for the company\'s coatings division in 1979 at company headquarters in Pittsburgh. He received a series of promotions and has been in his current post since 2000. He earned a bachelor\'s degree in psychology from Ohio University and went on to earn a master\'s degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh. The prize money for the Bailey Oratorical Contest totals $1,800. The first-place winner receives $1,000, second place receives $500, and third place receives $300. The original Bailey Oratorical Award was established in 1915 by the Honorable Thomas F. Bailey, who served as president judge of Huntingdon County from 1916 to 1936. The oratorical contest has a long tradition at Juniata College, as students from all areas of study can compete for the monetary prize. An enhanced endowment contribution by Judge Bailey\'s son-in-law Colonel Sedgley Thornbury, has raised the prize money level to $1,000. In addition, the name of the winner will be permanently inscribed on an antique loving cup presented to the college by Colonel Thornbury\'s son, Thomas Bailey Thornbury.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.