Pi Kappa Delta Order of Attainment
Inaugural Year – 2007
Forensics is not an end, it is a means. The founders of this honorary recognized that fact 94 years ago when
they recognized the an honorary society served an important role in nurturing and encouraging students to
develop attitudes of friendship and fellowship all the while they were becoming more skillful scholars and
advocates.
Vocation is defined as when societies greatest needs intersect with a persons deepest urgings. Forensics
ought to encourage a sense of vocation and provide its participants with the skills to find and nurture their
vocation.
Every day alumni of Pi Kappa Delta make their mark, large and small, across the landscape of the earth.
They are teachers. They are lawyers. They are entrepreneurs.. They are school board members and civic
leaders. They are volunteers. They are putting to work in practical ways beyond measure the true sense of
vocation that we honor today with the first inductees into the Order of Attainment.
The Order of Attainment recognizes PKD alumni who through their life work, embody the ideals of
“persuasion, beautiful and just.” We know that this first group, while generally world famous represent the
many alumni in every single chapter of this organization who walk the walk, in the years following when they
talked the talk.
We would recognize the 2007 Order of Attainment recognees:
Spencer Tracy
Ripon College – Wisconsin Alpha
Class of 1922
Spencer Tracy was a legendary film icon whose forty year career set the bar for American actors and film
making. A multiple-winner of the Academy Awards, Tracy’s portrayals of priests, sailors, industrialists and
cowboys, as well as legendary relationship with another film icon Katherine Hepburn, made him one of the
most well-known and respected actors of his generation.
Tracy enrolled in Ripon after World War I and was a member of what may be termed the most successful
debate program of the 1920’s. A member of the squad whose members also included Bruno Jacob and
several other members who became prominent industrialists and entrepreneurs, Tracy was a member of what
was entitled the “Eastern Debate Team” whose trip to the east and winning debates against the leading
squads of time led some observers to crown Ripon as the preeminent debate program of the 1920’s. In
returning to Ripon upon the occasion of the retirement of his coach, the legendary H. W. Booty, Tracy gave
full credit to Booty and his debate experience for being one of the important factors in his long and
successful career.
Edward R. Murrow
Washington State University
Class of 1930
Edward R. Murrow is often considered to be one of the preeminent broadcast journalists of the twentieth
century. His broadcasts from London during World War II revolutionized broadcast journalism during war time.
As one of the first television news reporters he was instrumental in developing the in-depth investigative
report, which perhaps saw its most important use in the legendary See It Now series and Murrow’s powerful
confrontation of Joseph R. McCarthy. Murrow’s broadcast career was the subject of a recent film, Good Night
and Good Luck.
Murrow was an extremely successful college debater who won many awards in Pacific Coast Forensic
League, following a successful high school career where he was state champion despite representing a small
rural high school. At Washington State, Murrow was a Speech major in one of the first programs featuring
broadcast journalism. A. M. Sperber’s biography, Murrow: his life and times, makes frequent reference to the
significance of Murrow’s debate training and Murrow himself, in a letter later in life to W. H. Veatch, attributed
his success to the knowledge and confidence which debate provided him.
Robert H. Schuller
Hope College
Class of 1948
Robert H. Schuller exemplifies the Pi Kappa Delta member we would choose to honor with the Order of
Attainment for three reasons:
Reason # 1 : public recognition of the role PKD played in his career success.
In August 2004, Dr. Schuller had made a memorable point of including his forensics experience at Hope
College and his induction into Pi Kappa Delta as forming experiences in his career in his homily for a service
held at the Crystal Cathedral in Gove City, CA where he is still senior pastor.
Reason # 2: public leadership in the “Art of Persuasion, Beautiful and Just” in both his speaking and writng.
While relinquishing much of the weekly preaching responsibility to his son, Robert A Schuller, recently, Dr.
Schuller continues to broadcast his message on The Hour of Power, which can bee seen on 200 television
stations in the U. S. and Canada alone as well as hundreds of stations around the world. An estimated 30
million people watch the broadcast every week.
The Robert H. Schuller Institute for Successful Church Leadership opened in 1970. More than 20,000
students from different Christian denominations, Catholic and Protestant, have graduated from the Institute.
In 1992, Dr. Schuller opened the Fuqua International School of Christian Communication where ministers
from all over the world hone their preaching skills.
Dr. Schuller is the author of over 30 books, six of which have found a place on the New York Times and
Publishers Weekly best-seller lists.
Reason # 3: public recognition of excellence in his demonstration of the “Art of Persuasion, Beautiful and
Just.”
William O. Rieke
Pacific Lutheran University – Washington Epsilon Chapter
Class of 1953
A physician, research scholar, teacher, faculty colleague, college administrator and mentor to thousands
of students, William O. Rieke had two distinct professional careers. He will be remembered as an outstanding
teacher and as being among the international elite in the field of transplant biology. His original research
helped make heart transplantation possible. Later, he followed his heart’s desire to share his commitment to
quality undergraduate education and living a purposeful life when he took the path back to his alma mater
and the presidency of Pacific Lutheran University. Between 1957 and 1973 he published more than 50
papers and abstracts, dealing primarily with cellular immunology, and his work was frequently cited as being
crucial in helping pave the way for successful heart transplant surgery.
Rieke was a highly successful high school and college debater. He was a member of the first team from
Pacific Lutheran to participate in the West Point Tournament, the forerunner of the NDT. He was Chapter
President and a long-time supporter. He was always willing to share anecdotes about his debate career and
judged tournament debate rounds on campus as well as being instrumental in helping PLU host the NIET.
Ann Richards
Baylor University
Class of 1954
Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas, made a reputation as a tart-tongued public speaker who was
committed to promoting civil rights for minorities, women and gays and lesbians. Her New York Times obituary
called her “one of the most effective in a long line of Texas progressives. . .” Richards entered politics after
an early career as an elementary school teacher and taking time to raise a family. She served Texas in
various capacities prior to being elected Governor for one term in 1990. Her greatest fame came as a
political stump speaker where she continued a long tradition of Southern orators who were able to galvanize
crowds through their combination of passion and humor.
Richards was a successful debater at Baylor and a supporter of that program throughout her life. She
was a successful high school debater and a participant in the national Girls Nation competition. After the
conclusion of her political career Richards devoted much of her time to developing opportunities for low-
income women opportunities to develop leadership skills.
If you have other nominees for the Pi Kappa Delta Order of Attainment, please submit them to the Pi Kappa
Delta Historian, Dr. Michael Bartanen:
mbartanen@comcast.net
The Order of Attainment will be awarded every other year – at the National Convention and Tournament –
2009 in Shreveport, Louisiana.