EWC Debater’s Attend Loyola University of Chicago Invitational

Haley and Kenna prepare for their second debate.

Eastern Wyoming College debaters Haley Lauze and Kenna Noble attended the Loyola University of Chicago debate invitational March 18 at the Loyola University campus in downtown Chicago. Also attending were a number of colleges from the Chicago area, including Loyola’s own team and those from Wheaton College, a prestigious liberal arts college Wheaton, Illinois.

Eastern Wyoming was the only college from out of the Chicago region invited to the tournament. The invitation on behalf of the Loyola University Debating Society was a recognition of Lauze and Noble’s season-long success in a variety of debate formats.

The format for the competition was new for the squad, and one that is mostly practiced by major institutions on the East and West Coasts as well as colleges abroad, including Oxford and Cambridge, among many others. The British Parliamentary (BP) style of debate features four two-person teams in each competition room, with two teams advocating for and two teams negating the motion. The subjects for the topics range from contemporary world affairs to enduring questions in philosophy.  The contest at Loyola, like many BP tournaments, featured three preliminary rounds, with the teams ranked one through four by a panel of three expert judges.

Lauze and Nobel improved throughout the three rounds, earning a fourth place ranking in their first round, a third place ranking in their second round, and a second place ranking in their third round. Although that was not enough to earn them a bid into the final debate, which featured three Wheaton teams and one Loyola-Chicago team, their steady improvement earned praise from the tournament administrator Mr. David Romanelli, Director of Debate at Loyola.

Haley and Kenna with David Romanelli

“The fact that in each debate round Haley and Kenna’s rank and scores went up was remarkable,” said Romanelli. “I believe they both have a good deal of promise.”

This event concludes the team’s travel for the year, although the squad will begin preparing for next year starting the first week in April and continuing through May.

For more information about speech and debate at EWC contact Jeremy Christensen at 307.532.8367.

Comments are closed.