For three days in Denver, Colo., the University Forensics Debate and Speech Team competed against more than 80 pairs of debaters from universities around the country. At the end of the tournament, the University team found two of its pairs poised to compete against each other in the final round, a circumstance that made the team No. 1 in the country.
The Regis/Texas Tech Swing tournament was the team’s most recent competition, Jan. 16-18, and it launched the debaters to their first-ever top national ranking.
Seniors Jonathan McCabe and Ben Dodds are ranked first in the nation as a pair, and the team overall has 60 points, the most in the country and in the history of university-level parliamentary debate, said Aaron Donaldson, team coordinator and graduate teaching fellow.
Before the tournament, “we were kind of in a dead heat with Western Washington,” Donaldson said. Western Washington is now ranked second.
The University team has three pairs of debaters in the top 12.
At the tournament in Denver, the Dodds-McCabe pair was matched up against teammates Hailey Sheldon and Matt Gander in the final round, a circumstance called “closing out.” The pairs don’t compete and the team automatically wins.
“It’s an incredibly rare thing to ‘close out’ an event in collegiate debate,” Donaldson said.
The “closing out” of the Denver tournament is merely an example of the powerhouse team the University has this year, he said.
McCabe and Dodds said their success has come from their teamwork as a pair and from the team as a whole, which boasts 25 members.
Teammates hang out at each other’s homes and practice debating, McCabe said. They read and research current events and news to prepare for tournaments, because the topics aren’t announced until 20 minutes before the debaters compete.
McCabe said topics are wide-ranging, from cholera in Zimbabwe to President Barack Obama’s proposed education package. Team members have to be able to think on their feet and have a broad range of knowledge, he said.
McCabe said he and Dodds were friends before they became a debate pair, which worked to their advantage. They play off each other well, he said, and enjoy working together.
Dodds added it’s easier to offer constructive criticism to a teammate who is also a friend. Criticizing someone’s thoughts or ideas can be tricky, he said, but he and McCabe have an easy understanding with each other that usually prevents either from taking offense.
McCabe and Dodds said they couldn’t do as well as a pair if they weren’t part of a terrific and challenging team.
McCabe and Donaldson also acknowledged the role of the University in the team’s success.
“We would not survive as a team if it weren’t for the bountiful and consistent support of the administration and ASUO,” McCabe said.
The debate team will compete against about 40 other universities in the national championship tournament in March at the University of California, Berkeley.
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