The Pacific Forensics Alumni Club is a relatively new but undeniably impactful presence in the Pacific community. Dr. Jon Schamber ‘74, a founding member, encourages fellow alums to attend the forensics program’s reunion at 2pm on Saturday, October 12 during Homecoming and Family Weekend.

“People should join us to show support for the program, to rekindle connections with former teammates and to meet students currently competing on the team,” Schamber said. 

Noting the reunion also marks the alumni club’s fifth anniversary, he added, “This is an opportunity to celebrate and reaffirm forensics’ importance in Pacific’s history, its importance in the lives of students and alumni, and the alumni club’s role in fostering forensics at Pacific.”

Established in 2019, the Pacific Forensics Alumni Club is open to past and present forensics team members. The club’s goals include advocating and fundraising for the forensics program, helping to recruit forensics students to Pacific, engaging with the current team, and recognizing the accomplishments of forensics alumni. 

The history of Pacific’s award-winning speech and debate team dates back nearly as far as the university itself. The first fraternity in the West, Archania, was founded at Pacific as a debating and literary society in 1854. In the 1920s, two fraternities got together to debate literature and events, and the effort grew into a speech and debate organization.

For more than seven decades, Pacific Forensics has competed with distinction and earned top honors at regional and national competitions. 

“Forensics has been a part of the academic fabric of Pacific since its formative years, and has played a critical role in the professional development of thousands of graduates,” Schamber said, recognizing that the program’s alumni have achieved significant professional success in law, politics, academia and more. 

Schamber himself joined Pacific Forensics in 1970, competed for four years, and continued as assistant director of the program while completing a master’s degree.  He later was hired as an assistant professor in Pacific’s communication department and as director of forensics, a role he held for ten years. 

Under Schamber’s leadership, the forensics team routinely captured sweepstakes awards at local and regional tournaments, and students consistently qualified for the national tournament of the American Forensics Association. To this day, the university hosts the Jon Schamber High School Invitational, established during his tenure, which draws hundreds of participants from dozens of high schools.

Schamber and other forensics alumni also contribute to the Paul Winters Forensics Tournament Endowment, established to support the team’s competitive activities in perpetuity.

“Forensics provided me with knowledge and experience that I use every day in my career as a lobbyist,” said Pamela Gibbs ‘92, another contributor to the endowment. “I received so much support, that I feel it’s important to pay it forward, to help ensure that our teams can remain competitive in state and national tournaments.”

Schamber taught at Pacific for nearly 40 years. Following his retirement, he co-founded the alumni club and remains a member of its steering committee.

“I am very proud that the legacy of forensics is alive and well at Pacific,” Schamber said. The program continues to attract students to Pacific and provides the university with national exposure as an exceptional institution of higher education.”

To learn more and register for Homecoming and Family Weekend, visit https://www.pacific.edu/alumni/homecoming