October 22, 2026
SIU Student Speakers Forum on Oct. 27 examines leadership, loyalty
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Five Southern Illinois University Carbondale undergraduate students will examine the keys in evaluating how we determine leaders during a SIU Student Speakers Forum on Tuesday, Oct. 27, in Morris Library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium.
This semester’s topic is “Rethinking Leadership and Loyalty: Evaluating Those We Follow.” The free, public forum is from 7 to 8 p.m.
The forums, which happen each semester, began in spring 2002. The forum will also be available via the School of Communications Studies’ YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Open to all undergraduate SIU Carbondale students, the Speakers Forum allows participants from a variety of majors and disciplines an opportunity to showcase their public speaking skills and connect their academic and personal interests to the theme.
Chosen from auditions, students who deliver 6- to 8-minute persuasive speeches will each receive a $400 scholarship from the Society for Civil Discourse.
Casey Weaver, a doctoral student in Communication Studies and Speakers Forum coordinator, said this semester’s topic provides a vital platform for social activism and focuses on the “complex dynamics of power, trust and accountability.” Noting that people are constantly asked to choose a side, questions on the difference between true integrity and blind obedience persist.
The forum will challenge speakers to “look beyond the surface of popular influence and persuade us — how do we choose wisely, and what do we owe to the leaders we support?”
The student speakers are:
- Alaina Cummings, freshman, social work, Kampsville, Illinois — Topic/thesis: “Blind Obedience: Past and Present.”
- Kaelyn Gebke, freshman, accounting, Germantown, Illinois — Topic/thesis: “Women Left Out: The Consequences of Underrepresentation in Medical Research.”
- Van Mutert, freshman, criminology/criminal justice, St Charles, Missouri — Topic/thesis: “How to Obey Authority.”
- Bailey Oliver, freshman, liberal arts, Huntington Beach, California — Topic/thesis: “The Truth about Charisma.”
- Reagan Rodely, freshman, mechanical engineering, Du Quoin, Illinois — Topic/thesis: “Voting is Not a Sentence to a Life of Loyalty.”
Showcases aspiring talent
The forum is sponsored by the School of Communication Studies and the Society for Civil Discourse. The society was founded in 1999, when SIU Carbondale alumna Barbara Jane Schwartz of Makanda established an endowment to provide space for students to be able to freely engage in civil discourse and support opportunities for students to exchange opinions and beliefs in topics of interest about the Carbondale campus and society.
A reception will follow the forum in the rotunda outside of the auditorium. For more information on the event, contact Weaver at casey.k.weaver@siu.edu.