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Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Emily Faber READY, SET, GO: Junior Janet Pursell prepares for a debate at Liberty University (Va.) the first weekend in November

On Nov. 2, a group of Trinity students left for Lynchburg, Va. to take part in a debate tournament at Liberty University. Members of Trinity's Varsity and Junior Varsity debate teams, as well as students from Professor of Speech Jerrod Atchison's Argumentation course (SPCM 3330) attended this as one of five debate tournaments of the semester. The tournament matched debaters from schools such as Emory University (Ga.), Methodist University (N.C.) and West Point (N.Y.). Both debate teams and the members of Atchison's argumentation course debated other teams on a resolution dealing with United States foreign policy in the Middle East.
For students from Atchison's Argumentation course, this tournament was the first exper-ience many of them had with formal debate. Each Trinity team enjoyed at least two victories in their debates, an accomplishment, according to Atchison, that is almost unheard of among novice debaters.
"Most people go to their first tournament and lose all of their debates," Atchison said. "Judges can sense when debaters have talent, and people consistently pulled me aside to tell me that our debaters were on the path toward great things."
Students prepared for the debate tournament all semester, studying formal structures of academic debate and researching the resolution that they were given.
"To be honest, there is nothing that anyone can do to fully prepare for their first debate because it is such a unique experience," Atchison said. "I always look forward to talking with the debaters after their first round because they come out and say, 'Now I get it,' and it all clicks for them."
According to Atchison, the debate program at Trinity is battling inexperience due to the fact that the squad is still very young. However, the results of the Liberty Tournament prove that Trinity debate will see more success in the future, Atchison said.
Junior Janet Pursell was among the students to attend the tournament. A member of Atchison's argumentation course, this was Pursell's first experience with formal debate.
"All in all, debate is one of the most intellectually challenging activities I've ever encountered," Pursell said. "You can do your best on papers or presentations, but it's not the same because you're not matching wits with someone else."
After debating experienced debaters in such a formal setting, Julie Hemberger, senior, said that she has a new respect for debate as an actual art form.
"Debate is a gorgeous thing to experience," Hemberger said. "The kids we went up against were not novices, and I have a lot of respect for debaters because it is such a challenging activity."
"Learning to organize your thoughts in an argumentative line, putting things in categories in your head and presenting your argument in a logical way, has been my favorite part of the course," Pursell said. "I would definitely refer the class to someone else."

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