By Lezlee Gutierrez, Student Reporter
The debate team reached the national tournament this semester after rebuilding from scratch.
The team members have had a successful year despite the challenges they had to face. The team had no returning members from last year, and it had to construct a new team consisting mainly of freshmen and a few sophomores.
“The debate team was nationally recognized last year, so we had to try our hardest to do the best we could with a completely new team, but we did well despite all obstacles,” said Jason Allen, co-coach and communication graduate student.
The team consists of eight members divided into teams of two.
Each team was given a topic that is either policy-oriented or value-oriented 15 minutes before the debate. ACU was able to compete in 10 tournaments this year in areas including Houston, Lubbock, Nebraska, Mississippi, Louisiana and California.
“Our main goal this year was to rebuild our team and put the community back into the program,” said Jeff Craig, freshman print journalism major from Granbury.
Craig partnered with Keri Gray to compete in the parliamentary debate in Stockton, Calif., where they placed second.
It is rare for sophomores or freshmen to reach nationals, which is comprised of more than 200 teams. Jeff and Keri were not phased by this fact and placed 80th in the nation.
This was Dena Counts’ first time to coach, as well as Jason Allen’s first time to co-coach, but given the situation, they said they are proud of the goals they have accomplished.
Some of Allen’s responsibilities as co-coach included traveling with the team, attending meetings, as well as judging rounds.
The team is currently in transition from reaping the rewards to making sure next year’s team is even better, Craig said.
“Next semester we hope to build from the foundation we have set this year and gain success with our original goals in mind,” Craig said.
The team is working on recruiting members for next semester so it may have a variety of talents in each division, Craig said.
“It is more difficult for a smaller university to have such a successful program,” Allen said. “It is more important for us to focus on the quality of the new members, not just the quantity.”
