FAIRFIELD – On Thursday, Nov. 13, the nationally recognized Solano Community College Speech and Debate Team presented Falcon Speech Night 2025; an evening full of award-winning speeches, dramatic interpretations and live debate.
On that cold and rainy night, a crowd of curious spectators gathered in the Solano College Theatre in Building 1200 to watch a warm and welcoming cast captivate an audience with wit and humor to complement their intellect.
The evening began with a Duo Interpretation of an episode of The Boondocks (2005) titled “The Trial of R. Kelly”, performed by Jevohnte Fields and Mahari Wright. Coincidentally, falling on the same date in which the episode first premiered on TV exactly 20 years ago.
With Wright, winning Gold in the Junior IDPA Debate earlier this year, and Fields, who has proven himself to be an exciting prospect after becoming Debate Team captain, opening the event with such a candid and controversial rendition of one of America’s most polarizing shows, the crowd settled in for what would go on to unfold.
“My former instructor who was here tonight, Janene Whitesell, kept telling me to check this out so I came down and watched Nate [Whitmire] do an impromptu speech and Malika [Mirador] do an informative speech and realized that there was this activity where I could really have people listen to what I had to say.” Fields stated.
“If I could get it down to ten minutes, I could have everyone’s full attention to talk about issues that are on my mind 24/7. So having this outlet has been really nice.”
Juan Mares followed up with an Impromptu Speaking performance, in which he was given a topic and showcased what it means to craft strong arguments on the spot.
The crowd then watched a Persuasive Speaking performance by Abigail Gold, who was able to eloquently present a convincing argument as to why teachers should be paid more. A topic most everyone has an opinion on, regardless of views.
All seemed to culminate in a rising peak in the program where Francesca Franco took the stage to perform a dramatic interpretation of a speech prepared with such passionate delivery that it begged to move those in attendance.
“I have only lived in the States for about three years now. Being Filipino is all I am. I’m 21, I’ve spent 18 years of my life living in the Philippines, it’s my identity, it’s truly who I am”, spoke Franco after the show.
“This piece that I did was, especially, one that I thought of for years now, [having] grown up in the political climate that I did, under the Duterte regime [was] a really formative point in my life. Being able to talk about those things and raise awareness to a problem that isn’t unique to the Philippines, that is happening currently globally, means so much and it’s something that I’m incredibly proud of.”
The night marched on with Monica Guerrero performing an After Dinner Speaking in which she detailed the chaos that goes unnoticed of being 25, still living at home, juggling school and work while raising a daughter. Going on to argue that there is a case for women having it harder than men in this life.
With all speeches out of the way, the stage was set for the finale as a debate between Lance Cohen & Tyler King v. Francesca Franco & Mahari Wright ensued. As audience participation was encouraged, they were given a topic and minimal time to both craft an argument in their defense and respond to their opponents’ claims.
Coach Tyler Sasabuchi quite literally ran and jumped his way through to various members of the audience who questioned and assigned roles to those in debate.
For the debate, speakers were assigned the topic of whether humanity would band together or conspire against each other during a zombie outbreak. It was answered by comparing outcomes between North and Southern California, with NorCal arguably being the clear winner.
As the night came to a close, Coach Dr. Douglas Mungin, accompanied by his youngest daughter, gave a final farewell, reminding everyone that the Speech and Debate Team is open to all, regardless of experience.
The course will be offered in the Spring 2026 semester, meeting every Tuesday and Thursday at 1:45 pm. Students can enroll using CRN: 10279 and expect there to be more performances planned for the future.
