First student to win Everett twice
‘Golden Lips’ smooth talks his way to another win; $7,000 and counting
By Nick Tabor
Collegian Freelancer
When event organizers announced that junior Dan Burfiend had won the seventh annual Edward Everett Prize in Oratory competition last Thursday, no one in the room appeared shocked.
The history major, whose friends have nicknamed him “Golden Lips” for his polished speaking style, also won in his freshman year and placed third in last year’s competition. This year’s $3,000 prize boosted his cumulative winnings to $7,000.
“He is the model forensics speaker,” said senior Hans Zeiger, who finished second, winning $2,000. “Dan is really good at incorporating history and the big picture into his speeches.”
Other Everett participants included sophomore Joy Pavelski, who won third place, junior Erle Pettus, sophomore Hannah Mead and senior Karmen Andersen.
The contest prompt was, “A House Divided: Are America’s Founding Principles Still Relevant Today?”
Contestants spoke for 10 minutes and were graded on time management, clarity of ideas, adaptation to audience, logical flow, presentation, appearance and persuasive merit.
Burfiend said he crafts his speeches over Christmas break, a process which he compared to writing an essay for class, “except you use a lot more artistic elements.”
He said his speaking experience throughout high school and college has helped prepare him for the competition. He participated in high school contests and is a member of Hillsdale College’s forensics team.
“I think I’ve had a lot of good teachers,” he said. “God has blessed me.”
Zeiger has competed in each of the last four competitions, placing third in his sophomore year.
While the two have competed alongside one another for the past three years, each emphasized the friendship and respect between them.
“Obviously there’s a rivalry in the sense that we’ve competed against each other and we both want to win,” Burfiend said, “[but] there are no hard feelings. We’re good friends.”
Zeiger stressed the differences between their presentation styles. Burfiend, he said, is “very good at the formal, memorized speech… Dan’s very polished,” while he himself possesses a more casual manner.
Burfiend said he participates for the excellent speaking practice, though the money doesn’t hurt.
“It’s nice to have,” he said. “I’m glad for those who have contributed the money and who have put their time and effort in.”
Funding was provided by the Hillsdale College Theater Department and by an anonymous donor.