In a close competition between four Tufts seniors, Mauricio Artinano beat out classmates Jeffrey Katzin, Jeremy Sueker and David Baumwoll for the annual Wendell Phillips award in an oration contest yesterday in Ballou Hall's Coolidge Room.
The four finalists presented five-minute speeches on the same topic, which asked them to "describe an historical or societal situation or event in which you think defeat was or could be the first step to something better."
According to a press release, the Wendell Phillips Scholarship Award is given to a student "who has best demonstrated both marked ability as a speaker and a high sense of public responsibility." Only juniors and seniors are eligible for the award, which is granted annually to two students, one from Tufts and the other from Harvard University. The award is decided by the three-faculty member and three-student Committee on Student Life (CSL).
"We went with Mauricio because we felt that he took the question and responded to it in a way that was both personal and global," CSL Chair and Chair of the Drama and Dance Department Barbara Grossman said. "[His speech] was substantive, convincing and engaging."
Those descriptions could also be applied to the award's namesake, an ardent 19th-century abolitionist and orator with great passion for social justice. According to Grossman, Phillips was "even critical of [Abraham] Lincoln" for not going far enough with civil rights.
Artinano presented first, using the Central American peace process to show that while failure can be a learning experience, learning from success can be just as important.
"Although the wars [of the 1980s] have abated, there is not true peace," he said.
According to Artinano, in his study, he found that people felt safer in the midst of those wars than in current times, which have seen increased drug trade and crime. While Central American leaders may believe they have succeeded, Artinano said that much is left to be learned.
He argued that people should "resist the impulse to be self-congratulatory in times of triumph." Rather, we should "learn, reflect and grow from our successes," he said.
In his speech, Baumwoll focused on how failure can act as a catalyst for significant change. Referring to the Vietnam War, he said that "the defeat of blind nationalism... highlighted a fundamental shift in the popular perception of war."
Today's new, "sadder" perception of war, according to Baumwoll, is a step in the right direction. "I hope one day we can devise new ways to [maintain] peace," he said.
Katzin focused on inventor Thomas Edison. Katzin described Edison as having "a willingness to learn from his mistakes," particularly during his tireless attempts to invent the light-bulb, which numbered 2000.
Katzin quoted Edison, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
The fourth finalist, Sueker, called Phillips' statement on learning from defeat "profoundly optimistic yet refreshingly honest."
"Defeat can tell us more about how we do not wish to live than how we do," Sueker said. He offered an analogy of a child standing in front of a refrigerator who decides that none of the food within will suit his taste.
"Progress is a negotiation," Sueker said. "[It's] a dance of many first steps." He referred to the end of apartheid in South Africa.
The Committee deliberated on the decision immediately following the finalists' presentations.
"It was a very difficult decision," Grossman said. "We felt that this was an exceptionally strong group, it was significantly better than in past years."
