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The Reinhardt
College Debate Team Wins Semi-Final Round at Ohio Competition
It’s a true
“David and Goliath” story for the Reinhardt College Debate Team.
The newly founded team of six students –five freshmen and one
junior—competed in the Miami University Annual Invitational
Debate Tournament on Jan. 12-14 in Oxford, Ohio, and were able
to capture a win in the tournament’s semi-final round.
Debate Team
Members
Reinhardt debate team members, (from left) freshmen Andrea Cole
from Powder Springs, Ga., James Excell from Duluth, Ga.,
Jennifer Stogner from Calhoun, Ga., Jeremy Ragan from Marietta,
Ga., and Christian Abrams from Locust Grove, Ga., and junior
Michael Grimes from Canton, Ga., traveled by van to the snowy
steppes of Ohio for the tournament with their team advisor and
coach, Dr. Kevin Crawford, assistant professor of English, who
is in his first year at Reinhardt. It was a two-day competition
of intensive policy debate on the Middle East and was the
group’s debut into the collegiate world of debate.
“For the Reinhardt
team to enter into this competition at the middle of the season
and new to the activity is quite remarkable,” says Dr. Ben Voth,
director of forensics at Miami University. “This is an intense
intellectual activity involving thousands of pages of research.
The debaters and coach showed remarkable poise and strength, and
because they decided to begin their debating at the junior
varsity-level rather than novice shows even more remarkable
courage and the tenacity to learn the most.”
The Competition
Though they were
registered to compete at the junior varsity-level, the Reinhardt
team ended up debating in the tournament at the varsity level
because of a registration and scheduling error. Going into the
competition as the underdog, Reinhardt competed against
nationally ranked and highly experienced teams including
Michigan State University, University of Kentucky and Illinois
State University. Team members Cole and Stogner found themselves
debating against Illinois State in the semi-final round and
taking the win.
“At first, the
realization that we made it to semi-finals was surreal,” reveals
Stogner. “We were elated, but really above all we were just
happy that we could put the Reinhardt name out there
legitimately. To be honest, I'm still feeling euphoria from
winning that debate round against Illinois State, and I will
probably always remember the moment when the judge announced
that he wanted to vote for Reinhardt.”
The Team's Founding and
Recognition
Reinhardt’s debate team was founded in Fall ’07 by Stogner. Her
past experiences in debate were the encouragement for her to
develop and lead a team at the College.
“I did debate in high school at Cass High, and I really enjoyed
it,” Stogner explains. “Being in a debate team was like being
part of a glorified family of nerds where everyone shares the
same interests. Even at the tournament, we would stay up until
two in the morning contemplating the validity of Baudarillard's
claims, or whether or not to listen to the beliefs of Agamben,
and yet none of us thought it was strange that with our free
time, we'd choose to discuss policy and philosophy. Debate is
really a life-changing experience.”
Crawford is proud of the team’s accomplishments and is honored
at how Reinhardt was embraced by the tournament community.
“I’ve never seen a more welcoming body in a competitive
context,” says Crawford. “When Reinhardt was awarded its
semi-finalist trophy, there was a two-minute round of vigorous
applause, movingly sincere, whistles and shouts for the entire
squad. The teams were delighted to have another team for a
friend and competitor, and said so to all of us—even as our van
was getting snowed in!”
For more information about the Reinhardt College Debate Team,
contact Crawford at 770-720-5937 or
KSC@reinhardt.edu.
For more information
Office of
Marketing and Communications
top floor of Burgess Administration Building
media relations Lauren Thomas (770)720-5514
LHT@reinhardt.edu
marketing
Marsha White (770)720-5512
MSW@reinhardt.edu
graphic design Amanda
Brown (770) 720-5907
ALB@reinhardt.edu
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