The ACU Debate team wrapped up the fall semester and is preparing for a busy spring.

The program is in a rebuilding year, with roughly 60% of the team made up of freshmen and sophomores after 19 seniors and judges graduated over the past two years.

Sheila Ritchie, director of debate, said having a younger team gives the program a chance to grow. In 2020, many students joined because other activities were shut down, but debate could still be done virtually. 

“You can’t play a basketball game online, but debate was something we could do well,” Ritchie said. 

That year helped the team expand, and the program continues to develop new talent through training, peer learning, and hands-on practice.

Tournaments in the International Public Debate Association (IPDA) are divided into four divisions based on experience: novice, JV, varsity, and pro. New students begin with a boot camp to learn the basics, continue learning from peers, and finally compete in tournaments to practice in real-world conditions. Some novice debaters start by judging a tournament first, giving them a lower-pressure way to see how debates are run.

“Every novice debater that comes in with no experience will spend at least one tournament judging before they compete,” Ritchie said. “That gives them a lower pressure point to actually see what a debate round looks like in the real world.”

This fall, the team competed in four tournaments and earned 47 awards, including three division wins at LSUS and multiple sweepstakes titles. Two competitors qualified for the Battle of Flowers Oratorical Contest in San Antonio, continuing a five-year streak of ACU representation. The competition is highly competitive, and students can earn scholarship money based on their placement.

Ritchie said the biggest challenge of being on the team is the time commitment. 

“There is a lot of time commitment,” Ritchie said. “We are very competitive.” 

Students submit a tryout video, three references, a speaking resume, and a letter of intent, followed by a personal interview. Once on the team, students practice about five hours a week and travel to four or five tournaments each semester.

New students can also visit practices to see what debate is like. Ritchie said the idea students typically have about debate is based on what they have seen on TV or in movies. She said her team is welcoming and accomplished.

“If there was one thing that I would say about most of them, they’re incredibly high-achieving. They do a lot of different things, but they all do, many of them, very, very well,” Ritchie said.

Jacqueline Garcia Torres, a marketing major from Abilene, said the best part of being on the debate team has been the relationships she has built.

“I think the best part has been the friends and like the family that we cultivate on the debate team,” she said.

Garcia Torres said that she came in as a freshman not knowing anyone at ACU, and the debate team quickly became a place where she made friends she still has to this day.

“I would say it’s made me more open-minded,” Garcia Torres said. “Part of being a good debater is being able to research it, come up with the good arguments and understand them, understand why they make sense. And I think I carry that on throughout, like my classes and in everyday life.” 

She said that the connections extend beyond tournaments.

“It’s just so special to me, the ability and the connections that we have been able to build, like being able to go to each other’s weddings and celebrate milestones, go to graduations and baby showers and all those different things make the experience so much more worthwhile,” she said.

Garcia Torres said she is looking forward to seeing the team’s progress in the spring season.

“We had a lot of new novice debaters this year and many returning ones,” she said. “Seeing how much people can improve from the very first day to reaching quarterfinals, semifinals, or even winning nationals is amazing. I can’t wait to see how we do and hopefully bring back a top-three trophy.”

Looking ahead, the spring semester will include five tournaments, including the IPDA National Tournament and Convention at Middle Tennessee State University, and hosting the Region I 3A Academic UIL Meet in April, which brings more than 500 high school students to ACU’s campus.