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5th Annual Declamations: Why Memorize Anything?

March 3rd, 2026

Memorization is a dying art. An entire world of information is available at our fingertips. We can go online and read the books of millions of libraries, see the art of thousands of museums, and watch the videos of countless speeches. Why should we memorize anything? In contrast to this prevailing contemporary mood, declaiming is a profoundly embodied and meditative act in a disembodied and relentlessly dislocated age. There is no shortcut to wisdom, no quick workaround or online learning model that can accomplish the task of deep learning for you. As the world-famous mathematician, Terence Tao, recently said, AI tools are like taking a helicopter to the top of a mountain and missing the benefits of the journey itself. By contrast, the declaimer must sit with, ponder on, and connect with the text if it is to be declaimed with real understanding.

While the judges’ rubric had multiple components, overall the declamation finalists were chosen because of their clear contemplation on—and embodied exemplification of—their pieces. They sat with and were changed by their works. Some of the pieces filled us with childhood delight, some evoked somber reflections on evil and justice, while others led us to sublime reflections on the things of God. 
 
Our hope is that by meditating on these things, our students, and you, our guests to this site, will become a bit more familiar with things that are good, true, and beautiful, and ultimately with their Maker from whom they come. In a world of too much information, the more we sit calmly with good words, the easier it will be to recognize them like the way you might recognize an old friend in a crowd, even if you haven’t seen them in decades. 
 
Enjoy these videos from our 5th Annual Declamations Finals and a round of applause for our declamations finalists, and overall winner, Charlotte Schofield ('27).
Posted in the categories Academics, Events, TGC.
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