Karl Mundt Oral Interpretation Tournament on Saturday
October 23, 2025
The 42nd annual Karl E. Mundt Dakota Invitational Oral Interpretation Tournament will be held on Saturday, October 25, at Dakota State University in Madison, S.D.
About 250 competitors from 23 schools will be participating. The students will compete in three rounds in the morning, and final rounds in the afternoon. Students perform in various categories, including poetry, oratory, humor, storytelling, drama, duet, and reader’s theatre.
The tournament is named after former South Dakota Senator Karl E. Mundt, a high school speech and debate coach who came to Eastern State Normal School (now Dakota State University) in 1928. He served as head of the Speech Department at Eastern State, where his students excelled at state and national speech competitions. In addition, Mundt was a founding member of the National Speech and Debate Association, a society promoting high school speech and debate activities. Mundt served as the organization’s president from 1932 to 1971.
The Invitational is sponsored by the DSU College of Arts & Sciences.