Debate Team captures overall sweepstakes at LSU Mardi Gras Classic
The Arkansas State University Debate Team recently brought home the Overall Debate Sweepstakes Championship from the LSU Mardi Gras Classic Debate Tournament in Baton Rouge, La.
Junior Ken Corbit, who captured the Top Overall Debater Award in the team division of International Public Debate Association (IPDA), led the Arkansas State team. Freshman Benton Bajorek of Jacksonville followed up the strong finish by Corbit to capture second place overall as the top debater in Team IPDA.
Other notable finishes include Bajorek and Megan Harris of Bella Vista finishing second place in the Team IPDA division, and Clint Simpson of Searcy and Myriah Downs of Little Rock finishing second overall in Parliamentary Debate.
The IPDA is a national debate league active in Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Florida and Oklahoma. The central focus of IPDA is to promote a debate format that emphasizes public speaking and real-world persuasion skills over the use of evidence and speed.
ASU competed against a host of universities that included Tulane, Xavier (New Orleans), Southwest Baptist, LSU, and Loyola (New Orleans). Dr. Chris Harper, assistant professor of Communications Studies and director of Forensics Activities coaches the Red Wolf debate team.
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