Debating their way to the top
CMU’s debate team competes at National Championship Tournament in California
The Central Michigan University debate team is preparing for the National Forensics Association National Championship Tournament taking place April 18-22, in Santa Ana, California. The team has won three national titles in the past five years.
The seven-member team has advanced through 10 tournaments on its way to nationals, placing first or second in the open division of eight of them.
The teams will debate on the topic of cybersecurity at the national conference. There will be a number of individual debates on different subtopics, so students must research every aspect before they leave for the tournament.
“The team has produced thousands of pages of briefs with evidence from books and peer-reviewed articles,” said Joe Packer, faculty advisor of the team.
Packer also noted that studies have shown that participation in a debate requires as much research as a master’s degree thesis.