The Towson University Speech and Debate Team wrapped up their competition season this March, winning awards in three national competitions.
Darren Goins, the debate program's director, said this year's team has represented the University in "record-breaking ways."
The team participated in the Pi Kappa Delta National Championship Tournament, held March 6-10. TU students won awards in several categories including excellent dramatic interpretation, good duo interpretation and excellent impromptu speaking.
David Biglari, a business administration and communication studies major, won for excellence in dramatic interpretation.
"I didn't know what to expect since I had never been to a speech and debate national tournament," Biglari said. "I just knew that everyone there would be competitive, which drove me to work harder."
On March 15, the team competed in the Madison Cup at James Madison University.
Simonida Subotic, a junior political science and economics major, and her partner, junior psychology major Camelia Hostinar, came in fourth place.
"My partner and I were in the finals with teams from Brown University, Johns Hopkins, Yale, William and Mary and Cornell," Subotic said. "We were on a big stage in front of a 200 plus audience. We ended up being fourth, and we won a $1,000 check for the team. It was a pretty cool feeling."
From March 21-25, the team participated in the Cross Examination Debate Association National Championship Tournament.
"For the first time in the program's history, our team has entered into the elimination round of the CEDA National competition," Goins said. "It's similar to [NCAA] basketball, where you break the top 64, 32, 16, 8, and then you make it to the Final Four."
Students Deverick Murray and Adam Jackson were named Triple Octo-finalists at the competition, held at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. Jackson, an Urban Debate League Scholar, and Murray, his partner, are first years who advanced to the elimination rounds with a five wins and three loss record, according to a CEDA National press release.
To prepare for the debates, Murray and his partner began researching months in advance.
"The research never ends. We constantly keep learning new things and bringing new ideas to the table," he said.
The debate and speech topics are announced during the summer, and students prepare in the months leading up to the competition.
"Students begin preparing at workshops and at an intensive retreat," Goins, a professor in the department of mass communication and communication studies, said. "Depending on the topics, students go through a topic analysis, divide up research and construct speeches and positions to be used in actual debates."
Team members also work with coaches throughout the year. Chris Baron has served as a coach since 1998.
As coach, he helps direct student research, listen to practice speeches and travels with the team to competitions. Baron said that the students perform well because they are self-motivated.
"It's rare that students are totally uninterested in their debate topics. They want to win and they know what it takes to win. They have to work hard and prepare," Baron said.
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