Famous people who did Forensics

Oprah Winfrey (Talk Show host)

Tom Brokaw (journalist)

Richard Nixon (politician)

Kofi Annon (UN Secretary General)

Nelson Mandela (International Leader)

Malcolm X (civil rights leader) )

Antonin Scalia (Supreme Court)

Arsenio Hall (comedian)

Adam Sandler (comedian)

James Earl Jones (actor)

Charlton Heston (actor)

James Dean (actor)

Brad Pit (actor)

Tom Cruise (actor)

Ben Affleck (actor)

William H Macy (actor)

Bruce Springsteen (Musician)

Rio Hondo College has a long tradition of competitive Forensics Speech and Debate team participation. Starting in the early 1960’s, Speech Professor, Barbara Ginader formed and directed Rio Hondo’s Forensic speech team for an amazing four decades. In front of the Communications Department at the school, numerous trophies won by students are displayed proudly. The school has won many team and individual speech awards. Along with Ginader, Speech Professor, Mary Treser created an outstanding Reader’s Theatre program. Professor Mac Parks was in charge of the Debate portion and contributed greatly to Rio Hondo's success. Many college leaders have coached the team in the past, such as Tom Huffman, Voiza Arnold, and Owen Newcomer.

The current Director of Forensics is Gil Puga, he recieved his B.A. in Communication at Cal Poly Pomona and completed his M.A. at Cal State Fullerton. Gil's specialty areas are fairly broad; specifically, they include public discourse (dissertation's variables on audience responses to humor), interpersonal, intergroup/intercultural communication, and communication theory. Gil's teaching style is eclectic. He tries to teach from a combination of a games perspective, cognitive perspective, and a cultural perspective. To expand, he wants the experience to be fun, and the audience to remember speeches, and for you to be able to deliver speeches to our Southern California culture. His mantra for the past few semesters has been "students learn by doing." His leadership style tends to be slightly more macro-management than micro-management. Students at Rio Hondo College are privileged because he brings years of Forensics experience to the team.

Forensics students have gone on to have successful careers in law, political science, education, and many other areas.

Did you know? The Speech Team at Rio Hondo .....

Won Silver Award at the 2005 Phi Rho Pi National Championship in Philadelphia, PA

Won 2004 Bronze award at the Phi Rho Pi National Championship in Woodland Hills, California

Won the 2003 Silver Award at the Phi Rho Pi National Championship in Portland, Oregon

Won the 2001 Bronze Award at the Phi Rho Pi National Championship in Jacksonville, Florida

4 National Team Sweepstakes Awards in the last 5 years!