The University campus will be flooded with student debaters this week, as the UO Forensics team hosts the Bower Aly Tournament, one of the biggest high school debate tournaments in the Pacific Northwest.
Beginning Thursday, hundreds of high school debaters will be packed into campus classrooms and conference areas while the University forensics team will be scouting for future members and hopefully raising between $3,000 and $5,000.
“First and foremost we try to offer this as a service to high schools, which are having a lot of budget cuts,” said Aaron Donaldson, the co-director of the team. Donaldson said this is the team’s primary fundraising event.
Jennifer McBride, a member who has seen the team grow from a handful of students to the 25-member group it is today, said this is a major opportunity for the student debaters who come from Washington, Northern California and all over Oregon to compete.
“There are so many people wanting to participate, we often have to hold (rounds) in people’s dorms or in the basement,” McBride said. The team, which organizes the event, began booking whatever rooms were available back in fall, but that often isn’t enough.
Donaldson said the support from the departments that give up their conference rooms for competition rounds is vital for the smooth operation of the tournament.
The team members also judge the debates, recruit judges and provide feedback to the competitors, which McBride believes is especially important for high school students.
“This is a really big opportunity for students in the state,” Donaldson said. “We’ve had students at this tournament that go on to compete at U of O.”
McBride, who attended Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis, competed in the tournament and said this was the competition that sorted out the contenders from those who just didn’t have it.
“We always look for critical thinkers and people who love the activity, because we believe this shows in a person’s dedication and sacrifice,” she said, adding that debate is an activity that requires a great deal of devotion.
University junior and team president Amy Bullock said in addition to dedication, debating requires being adaptive and is “a lesson in reading people,” especially the judge and how he or she reacts to an argument.
“When it comes to research, I’ve spent a lot of time knowing how to quickly and accurately research topics,” Bullock said.
Optimistically, competing high school students have already done the majority of their research for the tournament, where they will be competing in six rounds, and the winners will have an opportunity to compete at nationals.
The debate categories are similar to those at the University level, including: policy debate, Lincoln Douglas debate (which is based on ethics and values), public debate (which is similar to University current events although is less research-based), and student congress debate, McBride and Donaldson said.
In addition to the eight prepared speech events, competitors will have the opportunity to enter an essay and win a University scholarship. This is the forensics team’s only scholarship opportunity.
University students, faculty or staff and community members are invited to watch rounds or participate as judges, even if they have little or no experience, but are able to provide feedback to competing students, Donaldson said.
Those interested can be directed by team members, who will have a table set up in the Erb Memorial Union Ballroom.
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