On the Plaza of the Americas, a part of campus often associated with protests and pointed messaging, 19-year-old UF accounting freshman Vivian Li used her moment on a wooden soapbox to deliver something different: hope.
“Whatever happens, I want you guys to take care of yourself,” she said.
Li was one of dozens of students who stepped onto the box Feb. 11 during “Hope Speech,” a semesterly event organized by the Dial Center for Speech and Communication Studies that invites passersby to speak about something positive.
Launched in Spring 2023 by the public speaking lab, the event aims to make public speaking less intimidating while promoting positive discourse on campus.
Dennis McCarty, director of public speaking at the Dial Center, said the idea grew out of a desire to ease the tension students sometimes associate with the Plaza, which is UF's designated free speech area.
“We wanted it to be centered upon talking about the good going on in the world,” McCarty said.
He said the concept was inspired by public pianos placed in subway stations as open invitations for strangers to play. Organizers hoped a soapbox would create the same kind of spontaneous participation.
“Hey, here’s a free soapbox,” McCarty said. “You can make a speech.”
Around 71 people attended the event this semester and about 36 spoke, McCarty said. Last semester, about 68 people attended, with 54 stepping onto the soapbox — a record number of speakers, according to McCarty.
In the two academic years Hope Speech has been held, McCarty said, only three speakers have delivered negative messages, none of which involved hate speech.
“Even just standing on the physical podium kind of elevates you and makes you feel like you’re being seen,” said Danielys Estevez, a 19-year-old UF nutritional sciences freshman who participated in the Hope Speech event.
Estevez said she initially came for extra credit in her public speaking class but found the environment more relaxed than she expected.
“I thought it was going to be a lot bigger,” she said. “But it’s actually really chill. Everyone here is very uplifting.”
Brady Combs, a 19-year-old UF information systems freshman, used his time on the box to speak about renewable energy development in Eritrea. He said he wanted to share the country's investment in sustainability, despite its lack of external help or funding, as a source of inspiration.
“I want people to take away that there’s a big world out there,” Combs said. “There’s a lot going on that we don’t know about.”
Even faculty members have stepped up to give speeches.
Caroline Huguenin, a UF adjunct faculty member who teaches public speaking, addressed the prevalence of cervical cancer, noting about 4,000 women in the United States die from the disease each year. After watching her students take their stand on the soap box, Huguenin decided it was her turn to face the crowd.
“I think it is important to put yourself in the shoes of your students,” she said.
Huguenin said she was nervous to speak about the topic because of her own recent health concerns, but she chose to go through with it to inspire others and bring awareness to something she cared about. Seeing the friendly faces of her students helped, she said.
She was nervous to speak about such a heavy topic, she said, but seeing the friendly faces of her students helped.
After stepping down from the box, she said she still felt nervous “but a bit lighter.”
Riana Morales is a contributing writer for The Alligator.
