Both halves of the Hillsdale College Forensics Program combined for an impressive performance at the Gorlock Gala Tournament, held on the campus of Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. The Debate Team closed out its regular season with another 1st place finish in Sweepstakes (their 5th of the season). The Individual Events team also finished well, securing a 5th place finish in Sweepstakes. Their combined efforts made them the top Pi Kappa Delta Team at the tournament, and the scores were good enough to tie them for top program overall with Creighton University, a tie that was broken on speaker points in Creighton’s favor.

Parliamentary Debate highlights included Stephen Davis and Nathan Leville winning the NPDA Novice Division. This is the third tournament in a row where Davis has been a tournament champion, with three different partners. Furthermore, each of the five Hillsdale NPDA teams at the tournament compiled a 5-1 record in preliminary rounds and advanced to elimination rounds. In the Open Division, the team of Jake Morgan and Ian Blodger advanced the furthest, losing a 2-1 decision in the semi-final round to the eventual tournament champions from University of the Pacific. For Speaker Awards, Liv Wolcott finished in 3rd place out of 108 debaters. In Lincoln-Douglas Debate, five out of six competitors advanced to elimination rounds, with Stephen Davis advancing as far as semifinals in the Junior Varsity Division.

On the Individual Events Team, six out of eight Hillsdale students attending the tournament took at least one event into the final rounds. Highlights included Kaelynn Van Buren and Kate Martin each taking three events to a final round; Sarah Rogers and Blake Faulkner making it to finals in two events; and John Hann and Josh Herring taking one event each into a final round. In order to qualify for the final round, the competitor must be ranked in the top six at the tournament after two preliminary rounds. Six out of eight students also competed in Pentathlon, which requires competitors to speak in all three genres of Individual Events. Three of those Hillsdale students finished in the top 10: Van Buren, Martin, and Rogers. The Hillsdale I.E. Team now has eight students, filling 16 slots, qualified for the National Forensics Association National Tournament in April.

Professor Jeremy Christensen and the Debate Team next travel to the NPDA National Championship Tournament, hosted by Texas Tech University starting on March 19th. Professor Matthew Warner and the Individual Events Team wrap up their regular season with a one-day tournament at Bowling Green State University later this month before traveling to a pair of State Championship tournaments hosted by the Michigan Intercollegiate Speech League and finally on to the campus of Ohio University for the National Forensics Association National Tournament in April. Dr. James M. Brandon is the Director of Forensics.