Seawolves earn honors at the 2013 U.S. Universities Debating Championship
by Michelle Saport |
More than 150 teams from more than 40 colleges and universities around the U.S., as well as a handful of international teams, met at La Verne University in Pomona, Calif. last weekend for the U.S. Universities Debating Championships. The Seawolf Debaters once again proved themselves as serious contenders in their last competitive tournament of the season.
The debates focused on a variety of issues from whether cosmetic procedures to alter racial appearance should be banned to whether vigilante justice should be acceptable in patriarchal structures that oppress women. In the end, two UAA teams qualified for the elimination rounds. After six preliminary rounds, Amy Parrent and Matt Fox earned the 21st seed overall, while Brittany Bennett and Wiley Cason advanced as the 32nd seed.
Debating in the octofinal round on the issue of subsidizing foreign companies who are environmentally friendly, both Alaskan teams were taken out facing tough competition from Cornell, Stanford, and Yale teams among others. In addition to the hard-earned accolades our senior teams garnered, UAA had a particularly young squad this year that excelled in their first-ever U.S. Universities Debating Championship. At the end of five preliminary rounds, three of our novice teams were still in contention to make it to the regular elimination rounds, and at the end of competition, three of our novice speakers placed in the top-third of the individual speaker field. Their remarkable performance speaks to the depth of our program and holds high promise for the 2013-2014 season.
The Seawolves are back at home working on a variety of events to promote debate in our community, including hosting the high school Northern Lights Tournament April 19-20 and Middle School Public Debating Championships April 27. The team is also preparing for the UAA vs. Harvard Debate on April 25. This exhibition debate over whether or not the time has come to repeal the Second Amendment will be at the Beartooth Theatrepub. Tickets are on sale now.
For more information, please contact Steve Johnson at (907) 786-4391 or visit the Seawolf Debate website.
"Seawolves earn honors at the 2013 U.S. Universities Debating Championship" is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.