Thursday, November 1, 2007
The University of Kansas has another team in the Top 10. But this team isn’t football or men’s basketball. This team makes its points with words, literally.
The University of Kansas debate team ranks No. 1 in the nation after the six tournaments. The team traveled to Harvard this week where they placed second as team. In it's history, KU debate has won four National Debate Tournament championships.
The KU debate team was recently ranked No. 1 in the nation after strong showings in the first six tournaments of the year. In addition, a $1 million endowment has been raised through private donations to KU Endowment to help fund the debate team. The money will be used for scholarships, travel and other expenses.
Scott Harris, debate coach and communications professor, said the team’s accomplishments were a result of ability and dedication from the students.
“This particular group of students is one of the hardest working squads that I have had at Kansas.”
The KU debate team has a long history of success, having earned four National Debate Tournament championships and 13 NDT Final Fours. In recent years, the debate team has traveled to tournaments on the campuses of Wake Forest, Dartmouth and University of California-Berkley. More recently, the team returned Tuesday from a three-day tournament at Harvard. The Jayhawks finished in second place. Andrew Jennings, Silver Lake senior, and Brett Bricker, Wichita senior, are the team’s top two debaters. Last season, they finished the year as the third-ranked team in the nation, and at Hereford the duo finished second as a team. Jennings and Bricker also finished third and fourth individually.
Jennings, has debated since his freshman year in high school. He said his favorite debate topic was the Middle East.
“It’s a very timely issue and the situation there is constantly evolving, which makes talking about it fun,” he said.
Nate Johnson, Manhattan senior, has been involved with debate since high school. He finished 20th individually at Harvard and said he enjoyed debate because it offered him a unique way to compete against others.
“I just really enjoy debating other people,” he said. “It’s more intellectually based rather than physical.”
Harris said the debate team was open to all interested students, regardless of their skill level.
“Debate is a very time-consuming activity that requires a lot of hard work, but it is an incredibly rewarding experience,” he said.
For more on the KU debate team, go to http://www2.ku.edu/~coms3/index.shtml.
Edited by Kaitlyn Syring
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