FRED GOODWIN, THE LATE FORREST H. ROSE SELECTED FOR DEBATE HALL OF FAME

There's no debate about it: Fred Goodwin's elated to be recognized for his work in the field of debate.

Former Southeast Missouri State University debate directors Goodwin and the late Forrest H. Rose are to be inducted into the Pi Kappa Delta National Debate Honorary's Hall of Fame in a ceremony March 20 in Seattle.

"It's a high personal honor," Goodwin said Wednesday, "and I am gratified to having been named to the hall.

"It pleases me more that Southeast will have two members in the national hall of fame," the Cape Girardeau educator said.

No other American college or university has two faculty members included in the hall of fame, said Terry W. Cole, chairman of the 1993 hall of fame selection committee.

Established in 1987 at Ripon (Wis.) College, the hall of fame has 18 members.

The debating organization, founded in 1913 at Ripon, has about 250 chapters. "It is now the largest intercollegiate debate organization in the United States," Goodwin said.

Goodwin and Rose will be among six inductees to be honored for outstanding contributions and instruction in American forensics.

"Professor Rose was a key figure in establishing the policies under which all American colleges and universities choose and debate the same resolutions," said Cole.

"In this way, debate competition became truly national. His mark on university debate in this country is still being felt," he said.

Rose, who died in 1969, served as Pi Kappa Delta's national president from 1938 to 1940. His daughter, Mary Lou Kelly of El Paso, Texas, will accept the award.

Goodwin, professor emeritus of speech and dean emeritus of the College of Humanities at Southeast, served the university from 1955 until his retirement in 1988. He served as national president of Pi Kappa Delta for the 1971-1973 term.

"Goodwin served as chairman of the National Committee on Discussion and Debate. He also holds a tied record of having coached the most winners in the national finals of the Interstate Oratorical Association," Cole said.

A graduate of Southeast, Goodwin returned to the school as director of debate in 1955, and held that position for nearly two decades.

"The first source of real enjoyment in being a debate director was always for me the students," he said.

Goodwin said the activity attracted "bright young people."

"You could see their capacity for critical thinking improve; you could see their capacity for self assurance increase.

"You could just watch them grow up at a very important part of their lives and be a part of that," he said.

While styles have changed, the art of public speaking and debate remains the same, said Goodwin. "I am not persuaded that the techniques of argument are all that much changed," he said.

The basics date back to Aristotle, he said.

"I still occasionally teach a freshman class at the university," said Goodwin. "Those classes are still filled with finely competent, able, young people."

Goodwin said Rose was a major influence in his career. "He left his stamp on me," said Goodwin.

"I thought he was extremely thoughtful, very much concerned about doing things the right way. He was disciplined. He had a tremendous sense of humor," recalled Goodwin.

An enthusiastic supporter of the university, Goodwin said he's most happy about the recognition the hall of fame ceremony brings to Southeast.

"Southeast has been a bellwether in national debate for 60 years," he said.