Hobart and William Smith Colleges

14 July 2023 Director of HWS Debate Retires, Schonning ’16 to Lead Program

As Professor of Philosophy Eric Barnes retires as the Director of the HWS Debate Team, we look back at the thriving program he has built at the Colleges. Postgraduate Trias Fellow Daniel Schonning ’16 has been named the next director.  

After 20 years as the Director of HWS Debate, Professor of Philosophy Eric Barnes is retiring from the program. During his tenure, Barnes built a competitive team with a global reputation for critical engagement and innovation. On campus, he will continue to teach philosophy. Postgraduate Trias Fellow Daniel Schonning ’16 has been appointed as the next director of the program.  

Before returning to HWS to teach creative writing in 2021, Schonning studied at Colorado State University and earned a master of fine arts in creative writing. Since 2022, Schonning has served as the HWS Debate team’s assistant coach, coleading practices, chaperoning tournaments and participating in several tournaments as a judge.

At the World University Debating Championship in Madrid, Spain, Schonning was honored as one of the best adjudicators out of 224 adjudicators from around the globe. He was selected to chair the judging panel in the octo-final round (a prestigious assignment) and then appointed as one of just nine adjudicators to judge the final round in the English as a Foreign Language division. "This is very impressive for anyone, and this was just Danny’s first year judging at the World Championships," Barnes says. 

“Danny Schonning is the absolute perfect person to take over directing the HWS Debate Team. His experience here as a student, during which he was President of the HWS Debate Team, gives him an invaluable perspective on what things look like from the student side. Moreover, he was an excellent debater, winning the championship at Cornell and elsewhere, so he knows how to win debates,” Barnes says.

Barnes launched the HWS Debate program in 2004. Nearly 200 students have participated since. Internationally successful, the team reached elimination rounds of the largest debate tournament in the world, the World Universities Debating Championships, four times. Most recently in 2023, when Sreyan Kanungo ’23 and Kayla Powers ’24 became one of only eight U.S. teams to break into elimination rounds.

“Professor Barnes leaves behind a legacy that will stand the test of time in both HWS history and the history of intercollegiate debate,” says Will McConnell ’12, the 2012 United States Universities Debate Champion. “He has helped generations of debaters learn practical public speaking skills, develop their reasoning abilities, and achieve national and international success.” McConnell is an assistant professor of sociology at Florida Atlantic University.

Over the years, Barnes sought to improve the activity of competitive debate by promoting better arguments and improved ways to run tournaments.

“Eric built HWS Debate totally from scratch, making debate a vehicle for research and investigation,” says Hobart Dean and Professor of Philosophy Scott Brophy ’78, P’12, P'25. “He’s always been interested in not just tinkering, but with how do you fundamentally make the competition more fair.”

Barnes’ legacy continues on campus, through the Finger Lakes Cup. Founded in 2021, the one-round challenge debate brings debaters from the University of Rochester, Cornell and Colgate universities to campus to debate a topic of public interest.

“There are few coaches on or off the field who put so much into their teams and the extraordinary growth and success of the HWS Debate program under Barnes’ leadership is a testament to his passion and commitment,” says Anna Dorman ’14, a graduate of Harvard Law, who serves as counsel for Protect Democracy.