Arkansas State University’s debate team headed off to its first tournament of the season, the Mendoza Debates, last Thursday. It is a national-level competition held at Lee College in Bayton, Texas. 

The team competed in the individual and team International Public Debate Association categories. These are one-on-one debates where contestants are given a range of topics before narrowing it down to one idea. 

“We take 30 minutes to prepare and then debate about the topic,” said Christian Huggins, a senior computer science major from Cabot, who serves as a co-captain. “The topics can range anywhere from sports, to politics, to a super abstract quote.”

This is not the team’s first time competing in the Mendoza Debates. It is, however, their first time competing there in person. COVID-19 shut down previous in-person competitions.

“We are all very excited to be able to compete,” said Somer Shannon, a senior political science major from Cabot and the other co-captain. “Many of the senior members of the team, myself included, haven’t been able to consistently travel since our first semester of college. We were getting worried that we never would.”

The team also went to this tournament with a brand new coach, Jonathan Smith.

“Jon has been really great,” Shannon said. “He has been super respectful of the team and its traditions. He’s also been a real advocate for the team. He’s put a lot of effort into learning all the ropes.”

“Operating under a new coach has been great. It feels as though nothing has changed and we’re all having a fun time getting to know Jon,” Huggins said.

To prepare for this competition, Huggins and Shannon hosted extra practices, assigned research on current events and participated in improvement workshops.

“Somer and I have been learning how to best prepare the team and while it hasn’t been perfect, I’d like to think that we’re starting to get the hang of things,” Huggins said.

If the team places, they earn more points toward their overall end-of-year ranking. Last year, the team and some individual members ranked nationally. 

“Team morale is really high,” Huggins said. “Everyone is working hard to make sure they can go to as many tournaments as possible, as well as getting as far as possible.”

Individuals who rank nationally can qualify for special scholarship-awarding tournaments. In addition, the team itself can win scholarships for placing in certain competitions. Last year, they won $1,500.

The team can also win trophies, but in recent years they have also received souvenirs, plaques or 3D printed figurines. 

The tournament ended on Sunday. The team did not win any sweepstakes awards, based on school performance. Huggins stated the reason for this was due to the fact the team could only bring six competitors. 

“The team did incredibly well. As far as significant achievements, Jasmine Turnage made it all the way to Quarterfinals in Varsity IPDA,” Huggins said.

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