Debate Team 2021

Union University Debate Team Wins IPDA National Tournament

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Last weekend, Union University’s debate team won the IPDA National Tournament, which was hosted virtually with over 62 schools and 132 teams competing.

Rebekah Whitaker is the director of the debate team and the assistant professor of communication arts at Union. This is her second year coaching Union’s debate team. However, this was her first appearance as the coach at Nationals, since last year they were canceled due to COVID-19.

Several individuals such as Steven Errico and Josh Johnson placed and won awards in the national tournament. Errico and Johnson were the first-place team and won first and third-place speakers, respectively. Jack McDonnell won first-place novice speaker, which is a division with students who have not competed in high school. Caleb Atkins won first place in the professional division, which includes coaches.

“The professional division is full of veteran competitors who have trounced me on many occasions in the past, so I couldn’t help but think ‘this has been fun, but this is as far as I’m going to make it’ with each new round I entered,” said Atkins, junior computer science major. “The team was incredibly supportive throughout the whole process and made sure I was prepared for every round before I went in, so the victory is just as much mine as theirs.”

The debate team faced some unique challenges due to the digital nature of the tournament, including more competitors than usual and some connection issues. A large thunderstorm hit Jackson on Friday during the third virtual round of debate. Union lost all power and Wi-Fi for a time.

“Students quickly hopped on their hot spots (many sharing them), and debated in the dark,” Whitaker said. “Some students couldn’t get connected to any internet, so they had to forfeit their rounds, but we still were abundantly excellence-driven.”

They finished the season with first place overall in the season-long sweepstakes and with many season-long awards, including first place in the novice category by Katherine Anne Thierfelder and first place by the novice squad as a whole. The whole team won first place for the Scholastic and Founders Awards as well.

“The team worked so hard completing 300 practice rounds to prepare for the tournaments this year. Yes, 300. It is incredibly rewarding to see their hard work pay off after a long, weird year,” said Whitaker. “I am simply blessed to be walking alongside them/guiding them as they do the heavy lifting. And now, I get to plan how we are going to continue that trajectory next year and beyond.”

Union Debate Continues To Be Excellence Driven

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The Union University debate team competed at Louisiana Tech University this past weekend and came home with an assortment of titles and a greater sense of confidence.

The debate team won first in overall sweepstakes and in individual debate sweepstakes. Individual Union debaters won first place in novice (Amily Huddleston), junior varsity (Grant McLemore), varsity (Danielle Popson) and pro (Josh Swafford) divisions. Union also won first place speaker in the varsity division.

Rebekah Whitaker, visiting assistant professor of communication arts and director of debate, said that the team has come together in such a beautiful way that makes her excited about the rest of this season. Since it is still early in the season, competition will continue to get more and more difficult, but Whitaker said that the team is hopeful about the rest of the season.

“Overall, I feel like we grew in confidence this weekend as a team,” said Whitaker. “All of the first year debaters made it to elimination rounds. Every single one of them did.”

Whitaker said that some of her favorite moments of the weekend were not the competition itself or the great success of the team. Even though all of those were great, some of her favorite moments took place before competition began, on the seven hour bus trip, and in simple conversations with debaters.

“We hold a service at tournaments that require us to be gone on Sundays, and we have tried to make that something that we open up to other teams as well,” said Whitaker. “Students have found great ways to open Gospel-centered conversations with other debaters, which is the real heart behind what we do.”

Whitaker said that part of what sets Union’s debate team apart is that they constantly strive to debate ethically and remind each other to speak with grace and mercy, a motto of sorts for Whitaker.

“I am extremely proud of the hard work that my teammates have put into this activity, for their accomplishments, and more importantly, for the way they have conducted themselves as ambassadors for Christ on the debate circuit,” said JD Logan, senior political science major and debate team captain.

The debate team takes a weekend off this weekend for fall break, but they jump right back into their season on Oct. 18 with a debate tournament in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Photo courtesy of Union University

This article first appeared in The Cardinal & Cream website

DebateTeamChamps2018

Union Debate Team Wins National Championship

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With Union President Samuel “Dub” Oliver in attendance, the Union University Debate Team won the national tournament for the second consecutive year and the season-long title for the fifth consecutive year in a competition held on March 24-27 in Spokane, Washington.

The season-long title, called the Founders’ Award, is given to the team with the most points from its top six tournaments earned over the entire season. Because Union only attended six tournaments prior to nationals, every tournament counted toward the title. Union was one of 124 teams competing for the title.

The national tournament victory is the team’s fifth in eight years. While about 20-25 students normally go to tournaments throughout the season, fifteen Union students competed in the national tournament against 55 other teams.

Debate cultivates skills such as public speaking, critical thinking, teamwork, social skills, social maturity and the ability to deal with wins and losses, as well as a broader knowledge in a wide variety of subjects. Union’s debate team has won more tournaments at the national level than any other national competitor in the past eight years.

Dr. Web Drake, head coach of Union’s debate team and department chair of the communication arts department, has been coaching collegiate debate since 1998. Drake notes that, despite its growth throughout the year, the team faced some challenges.

“We integrated a lot of new people onto the team this year, so we had a little bit of a culture shift this year,” Drake said. “The young folks, the novices, and the JV folks really stepped up and did a great job. This year was more about maintenance, maintaining the area that we’re in. Sometimes staying on the top of the mountain can be just as difficult as getting to the top.”

Drake says that having Oliver travel with the team to the tournament was a “delight” and that Drake is content with the team’s accomplishments.

“We just had a really successful run,” Drake said. “It was a really close tournament. We only won by three points. It was really, really close. It was a nail-biter right down to the very end. Great competition. Great kids. They really represented themselves, they represented Union, they represented their Savior really, really well. I was very proud of the work that they did.”

WhiteMathisCelebrate

Juliana White and Jacob Mathis exult in the team’s victory at nationals.

Juliana White, freshman TESOL major and debate team member, was one of the competitors in the tournament. White, who won second place in the novice division, was instrumental in securing the team’s national championship.

The tournament is based on a point system. White, who debated the rise and fall of the stock market and argued that the stock market’s volatility is a sign of things to come, gained two points from winning her semifinal round and one point from competing in her final round. The team won the tournament by three points.

White, who had no prior experience in debate before coming to Union last fall, says that she has grown in teamwork, knowledge and presentation skills since joining the team.

“It’s just been really helpful to learn from my teammates and their different areas of expertise and different walks of life and just grow in knowledge and hear other people’s opinions and experiences,” White said. “I’ve also grown in my ability to present myself and present ideas in a way that is concise and coherent in order to just present an argument and formulate ideas. That’s something that’s really important to do in just any way of life, to be able to present information well.”

White says that one of the biggest blessings about competing in the debate circuit is the opportunity to develop relationships with students from other schools.

“I’ve made several friends within the circuit already this year, and I know that other teammates have friends from other schools that they’ve debated against for years,” White said. “It’s really awesome to be able to be salt and light. That’s something that we say as a debate team, we want to be salt and light among the circuit and among our fellow debaters. It’s just been really a blessing to be able to do that this year.”

To recognize and celebrate the team’s achievements, Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist proclaimed April 5 to be Union University Debate Team Day last week.

Image courtesy of Juliana White
This article first appeared in The Cardinal & Cream website.

Union to Host National Debate Tournament

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Union University will host a national speech and debate tournament for several hundred home school students this summer. It is the National Invitational Tournament of Champions (NITC), which is the year end event for Stoa, a national high school and junior debate organization that focuses on Christian home school students.

Union is reaching out to students and the Jackson community because they need approximately 1000 judges for the tournament, and last week there were still 900 spots available.

“One judge can cover multiple slots, but that is still a lot of people,” said Web Drake Associate Professor of Communication Arts, Department Chair, and Director of Debate at Union.

On Tuesday, debate team member Lauren Butler met with Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist to discuss the event, the need for volunteer judges, and the importance of learning how to speak and argue. Gist is going to allow flyers to be placed at every table during the prayer breakfast next week.

LaurenButlerSTOA

Lauren Butler debated in STOA throughout high school. | Photo by Kristen Paris

“He was very supportive of the whole event,” said Butler who is a sophomore history major.

As the Union community prepares for this nationally recognized event, Drake said he would encourage students to support it and be involved if they can. This will be an excellent opportunity to share with others all that they love about Union, and why it is their college home.

“We will have several hundred potential students on campus along with their families. It is an incredible recruiting opportunity. Plus, it falls in line with our mission. This is a true national championship. There will be some very bright and talented student here. It is truly excellence driven,” said Drake.

The tournament will take place May 29th through June 3rd. Anyone who would like to volunteer as a judge can sign up here http://www.uu.edu/homeschool/debate/. The necessary training will be provided. Judges can expect a time commitment of roughly two and a half hours per round. Food will also be provided for them that day.

Image courtesy of Kristen Paris
Debate Team 2017

Debate Team wins IPDA National Title

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On the weekend of March 24, 2017, the Union University debate team brought home the national title from the International Public Debate Association national championship at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, AR. At the tournament, the team won first place in the novice division, first place speaker in the Junior Varsity, Varsity, and Professional divisions, the Scholastic Sweepstakes, the Founder’s Sweepstakes, and the Overall Tournament Sweepstakes.

For the season, the team earned Novice and Junior Varsity Sweepstakes awards, Junior Varsity Individual Sweepstakes, and the Founders Award for the top team in the nation.

Junior, Ryan Sinni claimed that he “really enjoyed being a part of last year’s team. I feel privileged to debate on a team that both values excellence and puts Christ at the center of all that we do. The debate team has been a place where I can not only learn how to communicate persuasively, but also disciple and be discipled.”

At the championship tournament, Jacob Collins was the winner of the Novice Division. Clark Hubbard was a finalist in the Junior Varsity Division. Garnering top speaker awards in their divisions were Ryan Sinni (Professional), Hubbard (Junior Varsity), and Jacob Mathis (Team).

According to Collins, the debate team “supports, loves and encourages each other from the first meeting to the final awards banquet.” Our team is “a community of individuals from different walks of life, aiming to discover the truth in light of the Truth that has been revealed to us.”

In season-long awards, Hubbard was once again the big winner, taking home the Junior Varsity Season-Long Sweepstakes.

Hubbard says that debate “has been one of my favorite experiences at Union, and has contributed to who I am as a person more than most things I have done throughout college. I don’t know what job I will find myself in post-graduation, but whatever it is, I have no doubt that my years of debate will influence it positively. Many of my closest friends have come from the debate team.”

The schools that the team competed against ranged from small schools to large universities.

Web Drake, chair of the Communication Arts department is the team’s coach.

“This year’s team was a joy,” Drake said. “I think they genuinely loved each other and were passionate about their craft. That enthusiasm resulted in some big things for this team.”

Drake Faculty of the Year

Drake named Faculty of the Year

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Union University presented more than 70 awards to students, faculty and staff at the annual Awards Day chapel service. The Carla D. Sanderson Faculty of the Year Award went to Web Drake, professor of communication arts.

Drake serves as department chair, coordinates the Speech major, and coaches the Union Debate Team.

In his 8 years at Union, Drake has guided the debate team to 3 season-long national championships and 3 championship tournament titles. He has also had multiple tournament and season-long individual award winners. He also chartered the Union Toastmaster’s Club and began the Joseph H. Eaton Speech Competition.

Drake Faculty of the Year

Ashley Fitch Blair, 2015 Faculty of the Year, hands the university mace to Web Drake, 2016 Faculty of the Year

Cam Tracy, Union’s Web-Master, was awarded with the Gary L. Carter Staff of the Year Award. In addition to his work with University Communications, Heit has also served as an adjunct instructor in Communication Arts, teaching classes in the Digital Media Communications program.

The Awards Day chapel, held May 1 in George M. Savage Memorial Chapel, commemorated seniors, students and professors that have shown academic excellence in their studies and teaching.

An academic excellence medal is given to one student from each academic discipline. In order for a student to be eligible for the academic excellence award, the student must have at least a 3.5 GPA in their major courses and must have earned a minimum of 15 hours in their major here at Union, Hopper said.

Communication Arts Academic Excellence Awards:

BROADCAST JOURNALISM: Allison Pulliam

DIGITAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION: David Parks

JOURNALISM: Danica Smithwick

MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS: Rian Trotter

PUBLIC RELATIONS: Elise Watkins

THEATRE: Elizabel Riggs

The Kina S. Mallard Communication Arts Student of the Year Award was presented to Anna Alicia Sails, senior broadcast journalism major and theater minor.

IPDA National Champions

Debate Team wins IPDA National Title

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On the weekend of March 27, the Union University debate team brought home the national title from the International Public Debate Association national championship at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. The team won first place in the novice and professional divisions, the team sweepstakes and the overall season long Founders Award, the season-long championship.

“It was a really great feeling at the tournament,” said Allison Pulliam, junior double major in broadcast journalism and political science. “It was a really good feeling to be able to walk up on stage and everyone on our team win an award.”

Pulliam won first in the nation for the professional division in season long awards.

“It was extremely enjoyable,” said Thomas Gray, sophomore broadcast journalism major. “We did something that was unprecedented and unheard of.”

The schools that the team went to compete with ranged from small schools to large universities.

“It was also really interesting to have nationals in Boise because a lot of our tournaments were regional tournaments and we were competing against people from the south,” Pulliam said.

 

Gray also said competing nationally was different than competing regionally because there are schools from all over the country, so competitors have different backgrounds and styles of speaking, and that provided the team with a different dynamic.

“I appreciated seeing all the different styles at nationals because when you compete regionally, it can isolate you and your team just a little bit, from the rest of the country,” Gray said. “Nationals was a really great opportunity to break out from your region and see what people from other parts of the country value in the way they debate.”

Pulliam said that the team was competitive and driven to succeed, and this helped them be victorious at nationals.

Web Drake, chairman of the communication arts department and the debate director, went along with the team on this journey and watched them succeed.

“This year’s team was a privilege to coach,” Drake said. “They understood what was necessary and set out to accomplish their objectives with determination and focus.”