UWG News Item
Contact: UWG Public Relations Office
Phone (678) 839-6464, FAX (678) 839-6645
ucm@westga.edu
Debate Team goes to Nationals for 34th consecutive year
March 16, 2006
CARROLLTON, GA - For the 34th consecutive year, the University of West Georgia’s debate team has qualified for the National Debate Tournament (NDT), keeping the fifth-longest streak in the nation for an academic debate team.
UWG senior Jane Munksgaard of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Geoff Lundeen of Grand Rapids, Michigan, came in first place at the District VI NDT qualifying event to compete in two national competitions in March and April.
Thirty-one teams competed with only eight top-scoring teams qualifying for the NDT. UWG’s duo finished ahead of students from the University of Georgia, Emory, Georgia State, Vanderbilt, Florida State and Wake Forest Universities.
Dr. Mike Hester, debate team coach and assistant dean of the Honors College, said being a national debate team champion is no easy task.
“Without a doubt, the hardest part of being a member of UWG Debate is balancing debate work with school work,” said Hester. “Time for a social life has already been sacrificed. We recruit the best high school debaters in the nation to West Georgia, so they have little problem with research, persuasion, critical thinking, or any other skill necessary to be an elite competitor. They do have to learn to find time in each week for the more than 30 hours of debate work required as part of being in a top-ten program and still complete their school assignments satisfactorily.”
Munksgaard, Lundeen and UWG Debate will finish the 2005-2006 season by attending both the NDT in Illinois and the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) National Championship in Dallas, March 22-April 7. For more information, call 678-839-0623.
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