TR Campus kicked off a monthlong performing arts series with Speech Night April 4 before students compete in a national competition.

TR student and third-place communication analysis winner Santiago Hernandez opened the night with his speech on the un-hate campaign.

TR’s speech and debate team, The Honey Badgers, have been competitive since fall 2010 and highlighted much of their work at Speech Night, said TR speech instructor and debate team coach Phillip Morgan.

“All semester, they’ve been going to tournaments, but they have been out of town,” he said. “Our own campus, our own students, our faculty and staff and administration, they haven’t really gotten a chance to watch what we do and see how awesome our students are.”

Morgan said Speech Night normally doesn’t focus on the drama events that the speech and debate team students compete in, but they wanted to incorporate it somehow.

“We wanted to extend that out a little into acting even though we don’t have a theater at TR,” he said.

Throughout April, several TR students will have the opportunity to showcase their talents in a series of performing arts events.

Some TR drama students will perform their prepared monologues and acting performances at the Riverfront Café at 11 a.m. April 12.

On April 20, students will perform scene adaptations of TR’s common reader, Seedfolks, at noon in Trinity Plaza.

Several music students will perform a jazz ensemble concert April 26 at the Riverfront Café 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

For more information, contact the communications and fine arts department at 817-515-1346.