Ideas in Action: USD Department of Communication Studies Hosts ‘Speakers’ Night'
This event was an opportunity for top students who completed CMST 101–Foundations of Communication and UHON 101–Honors Public Speaking in the fall 2025 and spring 2026 semesters to present their policy speeches based on their semester topics to a wider campus audience and compete for prizes awarded by a panel of campus judges. The event was supported in part by the USD Chiesman Center for Democracy, housed in the USD Department of Political Science.
Students were competitively selected to present their ideas on improving campus and the Vermillion community.
Isabella Abels, an education major at USD, presented her idea for USD to host a friendly competition food drive in partnership with Feeding Vermillion. This theoretical competition would take place during the holidays to ensure families in Vermillion have enough food to carry them through the season.
“As an education major, I’m passionate about ensuring kids have access to nutritious food, no matter their circumstances. Hunger impacts children’s learning experience, giving them an unfair disadvantage compared to their peers,” said Abels. “I was nervous to present, but I know my policy was something that could be easily implemented in the community, so I pushed my nerves aside because I want to help families around Vermillion.”
Seth Gerhardt, a political science and criminal justice major, also felt the nerves, but they were quickly overshadowed by his excitement to speak to the campus on a topic he feels deeply about—food waste at USD.
“I notice this issue every day in the dining hall. Growing up, I was taught the importance of not wasting food, so seeing the amount thrown away on campus made me want to explore a solution,” said Gerhardt. “Through my research and conversations that I had with campus and community members, I realized there are realistic steps that can be taken. My policy proposed introducing educational signage around campus to promote the importance of reducing food waste. Another idea was to implement a compost bin in the dining hall, where students can compost vegetable and fruit scraps. The compost would then be donated to Genesis Gardens, a three-acre community garden located here in Vermillion.”
After their presentations, students received encouraging feedback about the practicality of their proposals and the research behind it from a panel of judges. Gerhardt took first place, while all other participants were runner-ups.
“With over 100 people in attendance, Speakers’ Night was positively received,” said Jennifer Hough, Ed.D., ’14, ’12, co-organizer of Speakers’ Night and instructor at USD. “The night really allowed students to share their ideas with community members and present in front of a much larger audience than they typically experience in class. It demonstrated just how excited students are about creating initiatives and driving change on campus.”
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