Saginaw Valley State University

In their first year of collegiate competitive speech, six Saginaw Valley State University students have proven themselves up to the challenge, earning a third-place finish in the Michigan Intercollegiate Speech League Novice State Championship Tournament. Seven colleges competed at the event, which took place at Northwood University on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Six students from Saginaw Valley State University have received national recognition for their written appellate briefs in the American Moot Court Association's 2024-2025 Appellate Brief Writing Competition.

The Saginaw Valley State University moot court duo of Nikolas Baker and Diva Patel have set a new record for the program, finishing fifth in the nation at the American Moot Court Association final round of the national tournament.

Six students from SVSU's moot court program, ranked No. 9 in the nation, traveled to the University of Houston Law Center for the American Moot Court Association's preliminary rounds of the national tournament (PRONT) January 10-11. By the end of the tournament, one SVSU team had advanced to the final round of the national tournament.

Ten SVSU students (five teams) stood out in the American Moot Court Association's National Brief Writing Competition, ranking among the top 30 to close out the most successful season in the history of SVSU's moot court program. With this finish, SVSU also tied the record for the most award-winning briefs submitted by a single university in the history of the American Moot Court Association. Thirty briefs (15 petitioner briefs and 15 respondent briefs) were nationally recognized out of more than 200 submissions.

SVSU students finished strong at home moot court tournament

The Sims Public Speaking Competition was established by Lawrence (Larry) and Linda Sims to allow students to hone their oral communication skills. Students write and present a five- to eight-minute persuasive speech on a topic of their choice. Six students were finalists.

The University Writing Program at SVSU celebrated the writing achievements of student writers with 2021 University Writing awards.

SVSU students finished strong ata Capital University Law School Classic

Hard work and dedication helped Saginaw Valley State University's forensics team experience its fifth consecutive year winning the Michigan Intercollegiate Speech League season-opening tournament. Five SVSU students qualified for a national tournament spot in April as a result of their individual performances during the team's victory Friday, Sept. 27, at Oakland Community College's Orchard Ridge campus. Amy Pierce, an SVSU associate professor of communication serving as co-adviser for the forensics group, said a forensics-focused communication class offered at the university allowed students to prepare early in the semester for the competition. "While most of the students in the class had no previous experience with forensics, the class introduces them to the norms and culture of competitive speaking," she said, "which sets us apart from other schools." Friday's competition featured students competing in categories such as prose, dramatic interpretation, impromptu, and informative. These students placed in the following categories during individual competition: Jessica Carpenter, a communication major from Saginaw, placed fourth in the prose category. Imani Clark, a communication major from Saginaw, earned second place in the impromptu category. Monae Colvin, a criminal justice major from Detroit, received third place in the prose category. Savannah Senyk, a communication and theatre education major from Smiths Creek, earned second place in the prose category. Simone Vaughn, a communication major from Saginaw, placed second in the informative category. The SVSU team will compete in a Michigan Intercollegiate Speech League tournament at its own campus in December. The National Forensics Association Championship Tournament, meanwhile, will be hosted by University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in Apr Along wih Pierce, the SVSU team is advised by Ryan Rigda, a lecturer of communication at the university.

After another strong performance in a statewide contest, a Saginaw Valley State University student qualified to compete in a second event at the National Forensics Association Championship Tournament.

The Saginaw Valley State University forensics team continued its record of success during a strong showing at the Michigan Intercollegiate Speech League (MISL) Novice State Championship hosted by Northwood University on Saturday, Feb. 16. With six other universities in attendance, SVSU's team earned second place in the Team Sweeps category, where the competition is ranked by adding the total combined points earned by each team in the contest's individual categories.

The childhood lemonade stands were just a warmup for Maggie Walker, a Saginaw Valley State University student whose entrepreneurial ambitions led her to start a retailing business as a college junior and win a first-place statewide award for it recently. The SVSU accounting major from Laingsburg received the first-place nod in the entrepreneurship category of the Michigan Collegiate DECA competition hosted in Dearborn Feb. 1-3. She and five of her SVSU classmates at the contest qualified for Collegiate DECA's national competition scheduled for April in Orlando.

In its attempt to douse a fire, "Card-Bot 1.0" is blazing a trail for a new STEM-oriented student organization at Saginaw Valley State University.

Six Saginaw Valley State University students showcased their determined spirit by besting a number of their mechanical engineering peers - many from larger higher education institutions - during a national competition recently. During the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' (ASME) annual Student Design Competition, SVSU placed 22 out of 50. Penn State University hosted the contest April 13-15. This year's competition involved "robot soccer," which tasked teams with building robots designed to play the role of soccer players. SVSU's team created two robots - one designed for offense and the other for defense. Despite Bluetooth-related interference, the team landed five goals, outscoring competition such as University of Wisconsin, Virginia Tech University, and Clemson University. The opportunity allowed SVSU's ASME students to network within their field and practice solving real-world engineering problems that will benefit them moving forward with their future careers.

Saginaw Valley State University moot court program expects to face its toughest challenge yet during its ninth year competing in the national tournament.

Saginaw Valley State University's nationally-ranked undergraduate moot court program continued its success at the American Moot Court Association regional tournament in Ohio at the University of Akron College of Law Nov. 17-18.

Acting as teams of two attorneys, students in a moot court competition are tasked with arguing a hypothetical case. They are judged based on the clarity of their argument, their public speaking skills, their ability to answer questions, and how well they know the law and the case.

Fifteen students from Saginaw Valley State University's Honors Program delivered their thesis presentations Friday, April 7, inside Gilbertson Hall on SVSU's campus. The topics during the honors symposium ranged from disabled characters in Victorian fairy tales to veterinarian practices in the United States and France to the culture of fraud in the United States. The SVSU Honors Program is a competitive program that selects 80 incoming freshmen students per year. It allows students to pursue their major and minor degree work while providing enriched academic experiences in honors courses, seminars, research projects and social activities. The thesis presentation, during which students discuss and defend their findings to an audience of peers and university faculty and staff, is the culmination of their time in the program.

The Saginaw Valley State University Cardinal Formula Race team sped its way to another impressive performance, posting the top score among exclusively undergraduate programs for the third consecutive year at the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers Collegiate Design Series May 10-13 at Michigan International Speedway. SVSU placed 45th overall among the 120 colleges and universities from across the world who competed. The Cardinals finished ahead of schools such as Michigan Tech (No. 51), Penn State (No.63) and Purdue (No. 67).