Boylston Prize

Last Monday, 18 undergraduates gathered in Boylston Hall to recite from Beckett, Malcom X, Peter Schaffer and the anonymous author of a Middle English Ballad--among others--in their quest for Harvard's premier prize for oratory prowess.

And yesterday, eight students emerged as the final contestants who will advance to the Boylston finals on April 16. The finalists named are David Eisenberg '76, Harry J. Elam, Jr. '78, Jonathan Epstein '77, Gregary K. Jorday '76, Margor Kessler '77, Angela Lee '76, Howard O'Brien '76, and Philip Weiss '76.

Traditionally, a man of the cloth, of the bar and of the classroom has been chosen to judge the Boylston finals. In April, David Steiner '54, general counsel for the University, Preston N. Williams, Houghton Professor of Theology and Contemporary Change at the Divinity School and Mary Anne Schwalbe, director of admissions, will sit on the judgment panel.

Steiner said yesterday he feels the prize is of moment in this age of all-too-artless public speeches and a growing society that allows less and less opportunity for sharpening forensic skills.

"I am not overly optimistic about the future of eloquence," Steiner said. "Historically, our country has had many fine speakers, but in recent decades there has been a decline in elocution."