Sophomore Hannah Johnson and freshman TJ Wilson made debate finals at Clarion University in Pennsylvania on Oct. 21-22.
Johnson won second place debater and debate speaker in the open division, facing a debater from Central Michigan University in the final round.
Johnson argued against Supreme Court decision Utah v. Strieff, which allows illegally obtained evidence to be used in court.
The current decision opens the door for police to erase their Fourth Amendment violations, Johnson said.
Wilson won second place debater and first place debate speaker in the novice division. He proposed police be required to obtain approval from their local governments and communities to obtain military surplus weapons.
Johnson and Wilson both went undefeated in preliminary rounds.
Sophomore Henrey Deese won fourth place debater and freshman Jadon Buzzard won fifth place debater in the open division.
In the novice division, freshman Carl Miller won third debater and second speaker, freshman Dan Grifferty won fourth debater and third speaker, and freshman Justin Politzer won fifth debater and fifth speaker.
Johnson defeated her final round opponent in a preliminary round where she had to defend the president’s power to pardon people.
Buzzard faced an opponent who argued that the federal government should abolish all police in the United States.
Deese said the team bonded a lot during the competition.
“We just had a great time,” Deese said. “We spent a lot of time together since the tournament was short on both days. Nobody slept on either of the van rides because we were just talking the entire time.”
