HWS Debate Competes at Cornell
17 February 2017 HWS Debate Competes at Cornell
At the February Trifecta Tournament of Love debate tournament held at Cornell University, the HWS Debate Team took on issues ranging from poverty relief to public health to so-called fake news, contending into the late rounds of the competition.
The tournament, held Feb. 11 and 12, featured three divisions the Novice National Championship, Spanish-Language Inter-Varsity and English-Language Inter-Varsity each with five rounds of preliminary debating and five rounds of extended open adjudication.
In the Novice National Championship, which featured two-person teams of first-year debaters, Bart Lahiff 20 and Jesse Maltese 20 advanced to the quarterfinal round before bowing out against teams from Cornell and Clemson University in a debate over the Catholic Churchs selling of artifacts to fund poverty relief. Amanda Ngo19 was invited to serve as chair of judging panels and Grace Marshall19 served as a judge in the elimination rounds.
Our 26student participants 17novicedebaters and nine varsity judges is the largest contingent of students weve sent to a tournament, says Steve Penner, assistant coach of the HWSDebate Team.
Promoting a culture of excellence, critical thought and strong teamwork, the HWS Debate Team is comprised of confident public speakers who continually hone their analytic and rhetorical skills to master the art of persuasion.
The teams 2015-2016 academic year was marked by a series ofsuccessful tournament appearances, with wins at both the Brad Smith Invitational at the University of Rochester and Cornell Inter-Varsity tournaments. HWS also advanced teams to theelimination rounds at Yale IV and the National Championships, and they had a team in the final round of the highly competitive Colgate Open.
Every spring, the team hosts the International Round Robin Debate Tournament, the most elite debate tournament in the world. The2016 eventfeatured collegiate debate teams from about 20 countries ranging from Singapore and Sweden to Malaysia and South Africa. This years Round Robin is planned for NEED DATE
The team also maintains close connections with its base of alums, including Gerald Buzz Klinger 12, who along with Will McConnell 12 were named the United States Universities Debate Champions when they placed first in the nation among 156 top-ranked teams.