Wikimedia Commons | Courtesy
Ten members of Hillsdale College’s debate team drove to St. Louis, Missouri, Jan. 30-31 to compete at Webster University in the Gorlok Gala, one of the largest non-national tournaments in the country. Facing 41 other schools, Hillsdale took third place in the overall debate sweepstakes, a feat achieved by the success of each member.
The team competed in both one-on-one Lincoln-Douglas debates and parliamentary team debates. Competitors earn points based on their success in winning an argument in addition to their speaking abilities. Each team’s points are then totaled to determine which school wins the overarching sweepstakes award.
Simpson College in Iowa and Kansas City Kansas Community College outranked Hillsdale in debate sweepstakes.
“The two schools that beat us were significantly, significantly larger,” Team Manager senior Kevin Ambrose said. “They beat us out of pure numbers. They had three times the number of people entered than we did.”
Ambrose estimated the first and second place schools had 40 entries in the competition. Hillsdale members competed in only 13 events.
“We are by far the smallest school at every tournament,” Assistant Professor of Speech Matthew Dogget said.
In December, Hillsdale took first place in sweepstakes at the Ohio State Holiday Frolic tournament, beating schools such as Central Michigan University, Lafayette College, Capital University, University of Kentucky, Tennessee State University, and Ohio State itself.
The team placed third in the sweepstakes at the Gorlok Gala as each member earned points individually.
Senior Erin Graham won the novice division of the Lincoln-Douglas debate in her first college competition. Sophomore Kara Schmidt went to double-octas in the open Lincoln-Douglas round, competing against the tournament’s most experienced debaters. Sophomore Timothy Polelle and freshman Shadrach Strehle, debating together for the first time, won novice parliamentary debate.
Dogget credited the team’s success to their supreme effort and desire to achieve.
“They’re hard workers,” Dogget said. “I’m amazed at the sacrifices that these guys make to do well.”
The team meets weekly to do practice rounds, discuss argumentation strategies, and research topics. Dogget said, averaging the intense pre-tournament and quiet post-tournament weeks, members spend about 10 hours together preparing for competitions each week.
“It’s definitely a team effort,” Schmidt said. “We pool our research, so if one person succeeds, it’s definitely on the backs of everybody else.”
The team will compete in two national tournaments coming up this spring. In April, they will compete in the National Forensic Tournament at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Over spring break, two or three members will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to debate in the second national tournament.
Dogget said he is cautiously optimistic about the team’s success at the national level. In 2014, Hillsdale placed fourth in a national competition, so its goal is to win a spot among the top three this year.
“The team really does become a family,” Dogget said. “You learn a lot about people in these situations, like who is really going to stand behind you. It’s not for everybody; that’s for sure. But anybody could do it.”
