SMU debaters placed second in the novice division of the University of Central Oklahoma Joe C. Jackson Debate Tournament in Edmond Nov. 6 through Nov. 8, competing against teams from the University of Oklahoma, the University of Central Florida and Illinois College.
SMU senior Noshin Kuraisi and SMU sophomore Katie Snyder competed in the event, winning five debates in a row and moving the pair to one of the top two seeds. The team fell short of first place in the final round where the pair argued affirmatively for distributing visas to military translators to be moved from at-risk foreign zones.
“I tell myself ‘I can do this,’” Snyder said. “A debate round can go so many different ways, so it’s best to think positively and have fun. It’s all a learning experience.”
The team, however, has not experienced such successes. In past tournaments, the team has lost over 10 debates consecutively, yet they turned this record around in this past tournament, winning five out of eight debates.
“Majority of people quit when they don’t win, but this team showed a lot of intellectual tenacity and patience,” said Ben Voth, director of Debate and associate professor of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs.
SMU seniors Briana Monsalve and Monica Rodriguez also competed and brought back sixth place in the tournament and finished with a win in the first round.
“They won their very first college debate, which I think is extremely difficult to do when you haven’t been here before,” Both said.
For this tournament, each debate used 9-3-6 minute format, allowing only 10 minutes for participates to prepare for their debate. The tournament also had three divisions: novice, JV and open. For this tournament, SMU only competed in the novice category with a team of four members although the SMU team is composed of around seven actively engaged members and occasional participants from Voth’s forensics class.
SMU not only finished competitively in the tournament, but also challenged gender norms in collegiate debate teams, bringing an entire female team to competition.
“College debate is usually dominated by men with teams composed of usually 35 percent female,” Voth said.
Creating diversity in the debate room is just one way Voth hoped to develop a value in the beauty of differing opinions.
“I hope students learn to celebrate the fact that all humanity has all these different thoughts among which may be good ideas, so they won’t be scared of the fact that people disagree with them,” Voth said.
This weekend, the debate team takes the road again for a tournament at Marshall, Texas, and then they compete at the largest fall tournament at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
“For the squad as a whole, I think we have a chance to really qualify for some national debate tournaments in ways that SMU really had not in the past,” Voth said. “I do think this is the most successful semester we have had in 10 years, maybe even more.”
