Debate Team Competes at Nationals

The College’s Debate Team competed at the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) National Championship last weekend at the University of Pennsylvania. The tournament showcased more than 70 of the best debate teams from around the country competing in six rounds of debate over three days.

While the team had a strong showing for their first appearance at the national tournament, they did not advance to the final round.

The APDA, started in the early 1980s, is an intercollegiate, student-run debate system that is unique in debate because it is not centered on preparing evidence. Instead, debaters are required to possess a wide breadth of knowledge, as they could be asked to argue about nearly any issue, ranging from political and economic to religious or philosophical.

In order to qualify for the National Championship, teams were judged on performance throughout the year, and had to accumulate a certain amount of points by the end of the season.

The Middlebury team entered the tournament ranked 20th nationally against larger institutions. Going into the weekend, Billy Prince ’14, the team’s captain, noted that Middlebury “doesn’t have one specific ‘rival’, but we aren’t very fond of Yale.”

The weekend competition was a good opportunity for the team to get exposure and experience on a bigger stage in debates against the best competitors in the nation. Elizabeth Lee ’17, who travelled on the team to Pennsylvania, pointed out what a great opportunity Nationals was for Middlebury’s team, especially some of the younger members. Going into the competition, she said “There will be a lot of good competition, and I think I’ll learn a lot.”

The College’s debate program is small, but under the guidance of a new coach, Keith Barry (Brandeis University, ’13), and a rigorous practice schedule, the team enjoyed an especially strong year. Barry competed throughout his college career for Brandeis, and during his time there, he was part of the highest ranked debate team in the nation.

Prince cited a new practice regimen as one of the main sources of the team’s success. “We’ve been practicing significantly more often and more effectively than at any point in the past,” he said.

Barry has been judging practice rounds to simulate competition and has assisted in editing cases. The team has changed the way they prepare for tournaments by videotaping and critiquing both practices and tournaments.

This year’s debating season has sent Middlebury debaters all over the world, from the World Universities Debating Championships in Chennai, India, to competitions at Oxford and Cambridge. Some significant accomplishments for the growing program have included a team’s participation in the final round of a tournament, and frequent competition by Middlebury debaters in the selective “out-rounds,” competition excluded to the top ten percent of the field. Nate Rifkin ’15 has proven himself one of the team’s best debaters, moving up in individual national rankings and winning several individual awards this season.

According to Lee, the first year participant at the National Championship, the members of the team have contributed greatly to its success.

“I think each person brings something really unique.” Prince agreed, noting that a key to their collective success is playing up all of their individual strengths.

“We leverage our individual strengths by putting together talks on topics we are familiar with.”

The team divides and conquers – each member will put together a talk on something they are specialized in, and then brief the rest of the team so they can all debate on the topic.

“For example,” Prince said, “my personal strength is finance, so I would put together a talk to get the team up-to-date on the European debt crisis, and that way [the rest of the team] can leverage that knowledge.”

While the group takes competing seriously, there is more to a successful team than pure brainpower. According to some of the debaters, team dynamics have played a significant role in success. Lee said that the team is what really makes the effort worthwhile.

“Each person brings something fun to the team, which makes the weekends off campus and at debate tournaments worth it. We are super collaborative and often work together to write cases, come up with smart arguments, and build a strong community.”