UWG News Archive

Debate Team earns 1st Round Bid

February 21, 2005

CARROLLTON, GA - For the 16th time in the past 33 years, a University of West Georgia debate team has been recognized as one of the top 16 teams in the nation by earning a first-round bid to the invitation-only National Debate Tournament (NDT).

UWG News Photo Each year, the nation’s top 16 teams, as voted on by regional representatives, receive a first-round bid to the tournament, which allows them to bypass the district qualification process. West Georgia has qualified for the championship tournament for 33 consecutive years, the fifth-longest streak in the country, and it has received first-round bids for 16 of those years.

The UWG team of Joseph Koehle, a junior from Erie, Pa., and James Thomas, a junior from Roswell, are the most recent West Georgia team to receive a first-round bid. The two “will likely become the first West Georgia team in more than 10 years to be ranked in the top 10 of first-round bid teams,” according to Michael Hester, head coach of UWG Debate. The actual rankings will not be released until after the tournament.

“It’s quite an honor,” said Hester. “Joe and James have established themselves as one of the top 10 teams in the country, and this first-round bid signifies their place among the elite.”

Other schools that received first-round bids were Dartmouth, Emory, Harvard, Kansas, Michigan State, Northwestern, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Texas and Wake Forest.

“It is very gratifying to see UWG take its rightful place as a national player in the arena of academic debate,” said UWG President Dr. Beheruz Sethna. “We know that, when a University competes in this arena, it competes with such schools as Cal-Berkeley, Dartmouth, Emory, Harvard, Northwestern, the University of Texas and Wake Forest. We recently won the 2005 tournament at Cal-Berkeley, with unanimous decisions against Harvard, Northwestern and Dartmouth. Today’s news shows that, based on a 33-year performance of qualifying for the NDT, UWG has the fifth-longest streak in the country. Academic debate is an area of strategic importance for us, and it is extremely satisfying to know that we are achieving national prominence in this arena.”

Dr. Chester Gibson, former debate coach and Department of Mass Communications and Theatre Arts Chair Emeritus, noted, “Anyone who looks carefully at the list of the 10 schools that received first-round bids to the National Debate Tournament surely must wonder how West Georgia could possibly fit on that list. Beheruz Sethna got it right when he called it ‘Educational excellence in a personal environment.’ The debate team has always prospered because the students are the focus of a lot of time and effort. They are supported by an administration that recognizes the enormous success that this honor represents. Congratulations to the debaters and coaches from an old man who can’t walk very well but who cherishes the memory that this honor brings back of all those students who were a part of setting a standard of excellence.”

Koehle and Thomas have won 19 of their last 22 debates. In January, they captured first place at the second annual Cal-Berkeley tournament with a victory over Northwestern in the championship round, and in February, they finished third out of the more than 130 teams participating in the Northwestern University tournament, the final competition of the regular season. They also won the championship at the Las Vegas Round Robin in September.

“Credit for this year’s superb season goes first to our wonderful student debaters,” said Dr. Donald Wagner, dean of the Honors College, which houses the debate program. “They are on the front line in the incredibly intense world of intercollegiate debate, taking on the very best teams in the nation. We also need to applaud the superb work of Mike Hester and Assistant Coach Sarah Holbrook for their coaching skills. The hours of time and effort in preparation for a debate tournament is what makes the difference in actual competition, and the students, Mike and Sarah have shown that to be the case once again.”

Hester said that West Georgia debate teams have a history of building momentum slowly through the year and peaking at the end of the season.

“We’ve had several teams that did well at nationals without being previously recognized as a first-round team,” he said. “In other words, we usually do better in the postseason than we do in the regular season. Hopefully, that legacy will continue and this year’s team will ascend from being ‘just’ a top-16 team to being a national champion.”

In addition to the NDT, Koehle and Thomas will compete at the Cross Examination Debate Association National Championships (CEDA) at San Francisco State University March 17-23. The NDT will be held at Gonzaga University March 23 – April 1.

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