After spending last year rebuilding, the Brown Debating Union sent four students to the American Parliamentary Debate Association Nationals at Fordham University this past weekend.
David McNamee '07 and Donald Trella '07 qualified for the national competition by winning a tournament during the APDA's regular season, making them Brown's full seed team. A full seed team means both members of the team have won a previous tournament. Brown, like other schools represented at nationals, also sent a free seed team made up of Vincent See '06 and Cat Biddle '06. A free seed team is one that is not required to compete against a seeded opponent in the first round. Both squads went 3-3 in the qualifying rounds and did not progress to the final rounds.
McNamee and Trella looked like they were destined for success Friday when they won all three of their rounds and were ranked third, but the two "just lost it" on Saturday and were defeated in the last three qualifying rounds, according to Trella.
In the tournaments running up to nationals, McNamee and Trella made a bit of debating union history. Trella and his hybrid partner, Mark Samberg from Brandeis University, won a tournament at Mount Holyoke College in early March, guaranteeing Trella a trip to nationals. In mid-March, McNamee and Trella together won the Providence College tournament, qualifying McNamee for nationals.
"This is the first time in team history, at least as far back as accurate records have been maintained, that Brown has won two intercollegiate tournaments in a row," Trella said.
Strengthening Brown's programThe debating union was in disarray until 2000 when Will Newman '04 and Brookes Brown '04 brought the team back to life. After Newman and Brown graduated, the team needed a rebuilding year but is now squarely on its feet again, according to Vice President Trevor Gleason '07.
McNamee, the debating union's current president, acts as an "old granddad" for the team, moderating disputes, coaching novices and exercising his talent at crafting cases, Trella said.
But the reason both Trella and Gleason consider this year a comeback is the team's newfound depth, which has produced strong performances from more than just its leaders.
Many novices, or first-year debaters, on the team, including Kat Read '09, Ana Beth Van Gulick '09, Susan Kovar '09 and Juila Heneghan '09, have made it to novice finals rounds. Jennifer Tarr '08 and Benjamin Groisser '09 were ranked 16th and sixth nationally among fellow novices, according to Gleason.
The debating union also holds on-campus debates each semester, in which members of the union or campus groups take sides on "hot button" issues and try to bring other students into the debate. "That's part of why (the Undergraduate Finance Board) continues to fund us," Gleason said.
Topics discussed in recent on-campus debates have included issues like whether Sex Power God should continue. In the near future, the union plans to hold a debate about President George W. Bush's stance on immigration.
The team also participated in some less traditional tournaments this year.
See and Biddle attended an international competition over winter break that used the British Parliamentary style of debate as opposed to the American Parliamentary style the team is used to. The British style emphasizes rhetoric, whereas the American style stresses a combination of rhetorical and analytical skills.
Nate Duckles '08, who was ranked 12th nationally among novices last year, paired with Trella to attend a debate on intelligent design held at James Madison University in Virginia. Unlike at other tournaments, there was no set debating style, but rather Duckles and Trella were asked to participate in a public debate using practical argumentation.
Duckles and Trella came in 10th place and won a grant of $250 for the debating union. Their strong finish, along with the fact that the other three teams from APDA also finished within the top 10, convinced Trella of the strength of the league and the applicability of American and British Parliamentary debating styles to every type of persuasion.
When not competing, debaters become part of a "weird culture that honestly carries over into regular life," Trella said. "It is kind of scary, actually."
"I got my fraternity (Alpha Epsilon Pi) a volume discount of 15 percent off 50 pounds of beef jerky we were ordering, that's how applicable experience in parliamentary debating is in daily life," Trella said.
