Among the many gifts to Vanderbilt University from the late Franklin K. Houston, life trustee, was an endowed fund to provide prizes for public speaking.  

Mr. Houston grew up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and took Public Speaking while he was a student at Vanderbilt.  When he became C.E.O. of the Corn Merchants Bank in New York City, he established this competition to encourage competent public speaking, as he believed that his experience at Vanderbilt had made a very real difference in his own life.  

The Houston speech competition is held every semester as the CMST 100 speech contest. Below are links to videos of student speeches from the Houston contest, 2009-present.

• Speeches from the Fall 2011 Houston Contest
• Speeches from the Spring 2011 Houston Contest
• Speeches from the Fall 2010 Houston Contest
• Speeches from the Spring 2010 Houston Contest
• Speeches from the Fall 2009 Houston Contest

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