Four Hillsdale College Debate Team members won individual awards in the virtual CARD tournament and conference of scholars hosted by Western Washington University last weekend.
“We were the only team to earn awards at the tournament at the varsity level other than the winning team,” Director of Forensics and Debate Kirstin Kiledal said. “Every varsity debater we sent earned an award.”
Awards are determined by how many speaker points the judges award each competitor, according to freshman Ryan Rodell.
Hillsdale competed in the tournament against Arizona State University, Gonzaga University, Oregon State University, Minnesota State University, and Weber State University.
Hillsdale won eight out of 10 matches total for the first two rounds but did not make it to the final rounds. Gonzaga University went undefeated and won the varsity tournament, and Arizona State University won the junior varsity tournament.
Brown won fourth place and freshman Ryan Rodell won fifth place in total average speaker points across the season.
Varsity debaters sophomore Ben Brown and senior Victoria Kelly partnered for the debate, which was parliamentary style.
“Parliamentary is a more flexible style of debate, in that each round looks different than the last round, and Victoria is pretty flexible about that,” Brown said.
The two tied for second in community building, a category which considers sportsmanship.
“We faced the two best teams in the tournament and quite possibly the two best teams I have ever faced,” Kelly said. “I am really proud of the team as a whole.”
Freshman Alex Mooney won third place in communication.
Junior varsity teams included sophomore Malia Thibado and junior Elizabeth Williams, sophomore Rebecca George and junior Miranda Heid, and sophomore Mark Den Hollander and freshman Livia Dodd.
Varsity team Rodell and Mooney and junior varsity team sophomore Malia Thibado and junior Elizabeth Williams both ended the tournament with a score of 3-1, placing in the top five in their divisions.
“Everyone won at least one round, so this is the best tournament we have had for some of our folks,” Kelly said.
The debate team recently received a $50,000 grant through the Rupe Foundation, a philanthropy group that sponsors debate events and teams.
The grant money will mostly be used for travel expenses and registration fees, according to Rodell.
“Next year we’ll be able to travel to more tournaments and can compete in tournaments that have higher registration fees and compete in more styles of debate,” Rodell said.
The grant will also go toward scholarships for the people on the debate team, according to Brown.
The application process for the grant involved creating a video about the debate team, according to Kelly.
“In the video, I addressed past experiences with debate, why I enjoy it, and what uses the grant could go to,” Brown said.
Kelly said she addressed the way debate has helped her career goals in the video.
“My role in the video was talking about how debate has helped prepare me for law school because one of the priorities of The Rupe Foundation is civic debate,” Kelly said.
