Embracing the Franciscan way: Marian College speech and debate coach uses faith-based approach

Marian College speech and debate coach the Rev. George LaMaster, right, prays with his team before a tournament at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., in October 2007. “I never thought I’d have a speech team where I could start a competition with a prayer. That’s a wonderful thing,” LaMaster said. “It gives a character to the whole experience. It holds the competition in perspective.” (Submitted photo)

By John Shaughnessy

The sign attached to the office door of the Rev. George LaMaster seems to be an unusual one for a former national champion for public speaking.

And yet the head coach of the speech and debate team at Marian College in Indianapolis says the sign accurately reflects the approach to life that he is seeking for himself and the members of his young team.

The sign on his door quotes St. Francis of Assisi: “Always preach the Gospel and when necessary use words.”

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve tried to embrace the Franciscan way,” said LaMaster, 37, an assistant professor of communication who is also a Presbyterian minister. “I’m taken with Francis. I appreciate the commitment to solidarity with the poor and the oppressed. I’m struck by Francis’ irrepressible joy in the face of suffering. And I love celebrating the eminent presence of God in all things. I’m making a pilgrimage to Assisi this summer.”

It’s one of the interesting perspectives that LaMaster shared as he talked about the philosophy he uses while leading Marian’s speech and debate team in its second year of competition.

The Criterion: You’ve said that Marian College is unusual among college speech teams because you practice “faith-based forensics.” Talk about that approach.

LaMaster: “Students express their faith and values in the speeches they give and their performances. There’s one woman who’s writing an informative speech about the life of Mother Teresa.

“Mother Teresa encouraged adoption. This student has a brother and a sister who are adopted. The family has a picture in their living room of Mother Teresa.

“Another one that comes to mind is a student who has a speech on the need to provide better mental healthcare for veterans returning from Iraq. When she performs it, you can tell she’s speaking out of her deepest convictions.”

The Criterion: What do you love about speech and debate?

LaMaster : “I think it transforms the students first and then the world. I was in Princeton Theological Seminary from 1993 to ’96. At the time, I was moonlighting as a speech and debate coach. I found I was doing more meaningful ministry as a speech and debate coach. I saw lives transformed as they found their voice to speak out. They find their own vocabulary for what they want to say about the world.

“I also met my wife, Jen, on the speech team at Bradley University.”

The Criterion: What’s it like for you teaching and coaching at a Catholic college?

LaMaster: “I never thought I’d have a speech team where I could start a competition with a prayer. That’s a wonderful thing. It gives a character to the whole experience. It holds the competition in perspective. So students aren’t first and foremost out to win. They’re there to express themselves and have fun. To them, speech is a gift. They want to share it, hone it and celebrate it.”

The Criterion: What do you hope the team members ultimately gain from the experience?

LaMaster : “Confidence, integrity, a close community, certainly communication skills. They get to do something excellent and beautiful in front of other people. Every kid gets a chance to stand in the center of the stage. And they get to talk about their core values in really critical and meaningful ways.

“Building community is important to me. The team is really important to me. I’ve had seniors say, ‘This team has changed my life. These are my best friends.’ ”

The Criterion: Any favorite moments in coaching?

LaMaster : “When we’re driving a 15-passenger van back from Michigan [after a competition] at 2 in the morning. Students share their stories. They talk about their lives. That’s sacred to me. I really value that.”

The Criterion: What effect, if any, has this faith-based approach in coaching the speech team had on your own faith journey?

LaMaster : “I never get tired of the questions college students ask. They ask the really big, hard questions. A typical journey through college, if there is one, begins with a naïve confidence in the faith I inherited, travels through questioning that faith—maybe even turning from it—and then ends by recommitting to the faith and holding it in a new way.

“When I have a student for four years, I get to walk alongside them during that journey. In my own faith, I’m comfortable with questions, living with tensions and not holding answers too tightly.

“College is the place where we question and explore.” †