Our Team
Matt Delzer, Director of Forensics
Matt has a B.A. in Speech Communication from Northern State University and a M.S. in Communication Studies and Journalism from South Dakota State University. Prior to coming to Berry College, Matt was the Director of Membership for the National Speech & Debate Association. He has been the Director of BCFU since 2016. Matt's daughter Zelly has become the team mascot and is unanimously the favorite member of the team.
Hope Willoughby, Assistant Director of Forensics
Hope graduated from Berry College with a B.A. in Communication and then went on the earn an M.A. in Human Communication and Social Influence at Georgia State University. Hope participated in BCFU when she attended Berry College and was even the Interstate Oratory (IOA) champion in 2009. As ADOF at Berry since 2013, Hope loves helping students achieve their own goals, whether it is winning a national championship or becoming a more confident speaker. The team loves Hope too, even when she jams to mid-2000's Ludacris songs in the car.
Kathleen Minor, Assistant Coach of Forensics
Kathleen graduated with a B.A. in Creative Writing from Berry College in 2019. As a BCFU member she was two-time national champion at Novice Nationals in 2019 and she is honored to be back as an assistant coach while she applies to M.F.A. programs. Kathleen loves helping students be the best they can be and kill it in tournaments and in life. Her hobbies include talking un-ironically about Linkin Park and finding academic reasons to rap, but the team tolerates her nonetheless.
Shelby Newland, President
Shelby Newland is a junior Communications major from Bloomington, Indiana. Though she originally joined the team because she liked the sound of her own voice, forensics has since brought wonderful people into her life and amazing ideas to her attention. As the president of BCFU, Shelby is slowly amassing the skills that will make her a competent cult leader.
Events: DI, Prose
Nadia Clinkscales, Vice President
Nadia is a sophomore psychology major from South Carolina. She's a really interesting person, but she didn't send any biographical information for the website, so this is all she gets for now.
Events: DI, Prose, POI
Madison Capeling, Treasurer
Madison is a senior from Nashville, TN. She transferred to Berry in the Fall of 2018 and has found a home with the forensics team. She is an animal science major who loves plants, animals, theatre, wine, and all things science. Events: Poetry, Prose
Zoë Robinson, Historian
Zoë is a sophomore visual Communications major that has no idea what’s going on half the time. She hopes to become a music video director when she leaves berry, combining her two passions: producing videos and music. She has one dog (El), three cats (Missy, Olive, and Tiger Lily), and a turtle (Sam). And that’s all you need to know!
Anna Claire Tucker
Anna Claire Tucker is a junior biology major from Blount Springs, Alabama. When she isn't studying, practicing violin, or rehearsing speeches, she finds herself drawn to eating honey crisp apples, photographing wild mushrooms, and fantasizing about moving to New Zealand.
Events: Persuasion, Informative
Sosa Barboza
Sosa is a student from Uruguay who came to the U.S to go to Disney World, however, she ended up just living in New York. She is a senior music major whose natural habitat is in the Percussion Suite. Therefore, so she has no free time to watch conspiracy videos. She never made it to Disney World.
Events: Impromptu, POI, Poetry
Ben Allee
Ben is a junior Art History and Communications double major, and has been on the team since his freshman year. He enjoys movies (only the sad ones), music (only the sad stuff), and art (some of it’s ‘happy,’ more or less). He hopes to someday inspire classrooms, study all sorts of art, and continue his hobbies of making music and writing. Someday, he’d like to compete in Impromptu (melo)Dramatic Prose Interpretation, but for now, that’s just a dream.
Events: Impromptu, Prose, Persuasive
Haven Hendrix
Haven is a freshman Political Science and Economics double major from Sugar Valley Georgia. Her hair dryer recently caught on fire, so she donated it to the forensics team.
Events: Extemp, Prose, Debate
Anna Rich
Anna Rich is a freshman Comm Journalism Major from Griffin, GA. Her favorite Disney movies are Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Anastasia (yes it counts now that Disney owns Fox). She’s also a huge musical theatre dork and will force you to watch Falsettos with her at least once.
Events: DI, Prose, Public Narrative
Annie Dietz
Annie is a junior from Lexington, Kentucky, majoring in International Studies and Spanish. In her free time, Annie likes to look at pictures of her puppy, eat dried mango, and read the news.
Events: Extempt, persuasive
Jacob Pritchett
Jacob is a junior Creative Writing major and Political Science minor from Montgomery, Alabama. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of his coaches one day and become a professor. Likewise, he's a dork who never passes up a chance to read his poetry, to go for an afternoon walk, or to have a conversation about postmodernism. When he's not doing those things, he's binge-watching Netflix or putting off checking his email.
Events: Extemp, Impromptu, ADS, DI
Kalista Shields
Kalista Shields is a Sophomore Physics and Creative tech major from St. Petersburg, FL. She enjoys playing guitar, Minecraft, and attempting to start the AI singularity.
Events: DI, ADS, Impromptu
Colton Wilson
Colton Wilson is a sophomore middle grades education major from Gladeville Tennessee. He joined the team because he had nothing better to do, but now he loves it. He spends the majority of his time practicing and making paper animals.
Events: Dramatic Interpretation and Afternoon Dinner Speaking
Rachel Heiter
Rachel is a sophomore Psychology major with a double minor in History and Applied Behavior Analysis from Canton, Georgia. She hopes to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology in her future, and, as such, she spends nearly all of her time doing homework. However, she can also be found as the secretary of Listen, a member of Lambda-Sigma, volunteering at the local animal shelter, or binge-reading Wikipedia articles to share fun (and sometimes not-so fun) facts with her friends.
Events: DI, Poetry, Public Narrative
Vanessa Fowler
Vanessa is a sophomore psychology and communications major. She loves listening to music, marathoning movies/ tv shows, writing as often as possible, and being goofy with friends.
Events: Informative, Persuasion, Impromptu, and Prose
Rachel Siler
Rachel Siler is a sophomore Filmmaking & Cinematic Arts and Creative Writing double major from Sparks, Georgia. She loves Taylor Swift with her whole heart and wishes she had been able to see Taylor perform in Atlanta during the reputation Stadium Tour. After graduating, she hopes to attend classes at the Georgia Film Academy and get an internship with Pinewood Studios (the people who make the Marvel movies). After that, she hopes to write and direct book-to-movie adaptations since no one else seems to be able to do it right. She joined Forensics because all of the people she worked with at Viking Fusion kept talking about how great it was so she had to see if they were right - they were.
Events: DI, ADS
Gene McCoy
Gene is a (technically) sophomore English major from Ailey, GA. He enjoys reading the works of sad Russian authors and joined forensics to see what happiness looked like. So far, his nihilism has dropped significantly and he has smiled for the first time in years. When not practicing his pieces, you can normally find him drowning his sorrows in tap water.
Events: Prose, DI
Erika Becerra
Erika is a sophomore communications major. She never lets the opportunity to hug Hope pass. She lives by the saying, "what would Peppa Pig do?" and her ultimate goal is to see Matt's gold tooth.
Events: Prose, Rhetorical Criticism
Morgan Thoem
Morgan is a junior physics major from Norfolk, Nebraska. You can most likely find her sitting in a study room in Mac, or extending her postcard collection. Her pet fish, Blue, is her number one supporter and motivates her to keep working hard through college.
Events: POI, Public Narrative, Rhetorical Criticism
Gabe Smith
Gabe Smith is a freshman Economics Major from Carrollton, Georgia. He joined the Forensics Union to meet new people and make new friends. If he isn’t in class or studying, he’s probably watching Netflix or spending time with friends.
Events: Debate, Extemp
Mea Acton
Freshman sports communications major. This is her first year on the team. While she isn't working or studying she loves to practice piano and guitar, sing uncontrollably, go to sporting events, and hangout with her best friends. She also really enjoys traveling and taking photographs of her adventures. She hopes to one day travel the world while listening to early 2010 bops.
Events: Persuasion and Public Narrative
Kayleigh Strech
Freshman sports communications and sports administration double major. This is her first year on the team. When she isn't supporting Berry at a multitude of sporting events, she loves watching reality tv shows and making awful (but amazing) jokes. She also loves going on random car rides and bringing all of her friends along. She wants to travel across all 50 states while jamming to old 2010s. Events: Public Narrative, Impromptu, Persuasive
David Tran
David Tran is a sophomore History major from Duluth, Georgia. His favorite hobbies include a good night's rest, a midday nap, and sleeping in (preferable all three in a single day). He joined the Forensics Union out of self loathing.
Events: ADS, Extemp
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