For the 16 squad members of ESU debate, the coming year’s competition promises thousands of miles of travel, the opportunity to debate Ivy League schools, and if they’re good enough, the opportunity to be champions.
“We travel the country, we go to really cool places, and although we might not have time at the tournaments to see those places, it’s really fun,” said Issie Englebert, junior pre-art therapy major. “Debate just has a really incredible community.”
In collegiate debate, one topic is chosen for the entire year, according to Engelbert. This year, that topic is health insurance, and debaters are able to argue about many different aspects of the broad topic against schools from all over the country.
“Unlike sports teams here at ESU, where they compete against DII teams, Intercollegiate Policy Debate is one division,” said Courtney Schauer, assistant director of debate. “Emporia State Students compete against everyone from Kansas City Community College to Harvard.”
The debate season begins in August and ends in March with two national tournaments, the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) and the National Debate Tournament (NDT), according to Engelbert. CEDA is an open tournament in which anyone can compete, and teams must qualify for NDT in one of three rounds of qualification.
“The first round of qualification is based on overall success throughout the course of the season,” said Chris Loghry, director of debate. “A committee selects essentially what is the top 16 teams in the nation, and they get an automatic invitation.”
Debaters can also qualify through a district tournament or by submitting a Second Round Bid, according to Loghry. The team of Engelbert and Arriq Singleton, junior interdisciplinary studies major, has set a goal to qualify for NDT.
“Only 78 teams are invited to compete at the National Debate Tournament, and our goal for Arriq and Issie next year is to qualify with a First Round At-Large Bid,” said Chris Loghry, director of debate.
Engelbert and Singleton recently placed third overall in the 21st Annual Val Browning Round Robin invitational tournament, to which nine team in the country were invited.
“We put in a lot of work and we practice, and that’s what pays off,” Engelbert said. “You win debates at home, they say, via your work ethic, and then it’s just about executing things you’ve already accomplished at the tournament.”
During practice, the debaters can do speaking drills, practice speeches or give redos from speeches that they have given at a previous tournament, according to Engelbert.
“We also practice-debate each other often, and we go through and we research and cut evidence and write prompts for our speeches,” Engelbert said.
ESU debaters will be competing next at the Las Vegas Classic Debate Tournament at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from Oct. 21 through 23.
