November 19, 2009: News & Views

OWU students (left to right) Becky Smith ’12, Anthony McGuire ’13, Jen Schmitt ’12, and Usman Javaid ’10 show off the awards they won at the recent Yale Intervarsity Parliamentary Debate Tournament.

Photo courtesy of the OWU Debate Association

Smooth Talkers
OWU’s Debate Association earns awards at Yale competition

The excitement is palpable as members of Ohio Wesleyan University’s Debate Association discuss the team’s participation at the recent Yale Intervarsity Parliamentary Debate Tournament.

Though the OWU team has existed for only a year and didn’t compete in its first tournament until spring 2009, the Battling Bishop debaters walked away with five plaques at the prestigious Yale IV event, held October 23-24 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Nearly 130 teams from around the world—including Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States—participated in the recent tournament. Ohio Wesleyan was represented by seven students comprising three, two-person debate teams and one student judge.

“The best teams in the world were there, and the OWU team beat out teams from Harvard, Yale, and other established debate teams,” the excited OWU students say. “We got our name out there.”

Among the victors at the Yale tournament was Usman Javaid ’10 of Lahore, Pakistan, who earned the top speaker award in the novice division. Javaid, a double major in economics and international studies, is the OWU Debate Association’s founder, president, and coach.

Also earning awards were:

• Novice Champions – Javaid and Becky Smith ’12 of Eagle River, Alaska, who competed as a team. Like Javaid, Smith also is a double major in international studies and economics. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school and then work in the field of economic development. Her goal is to help alleviate poverty in Africa.
• Novice Finalists – Jen Schmitt ’12 of Spring, Texas, and Anthony McGuire ’13 of Wellington, New Zealand. Schmitt is a double major in accounting and geology, as well as a double minor in economics management and women’s and gender studies. After graduation, Schmitt anticipates earning her M.B.A. and then putting her education to work to “break glass ceilings” in the business world. McGuire expects to major in economics, as well as politics and government. He also was selected as a 2009-2010 Economics Management Fellow, which provides enhanced opportunities for selected first-year students interested in economics, management, accounting, or international business.

The annual Yale IV tournament, which hosts both novice and varsity competitors, is conducted in the British Parliamentary style of debate. OWU’s team has chosen to compete in this format because it is the predominant style used in international competitions.

British Parliamentary style offers the best format if “you want to compete on the grandest stage,” Schmitt notes. And Coach Javaid definitely hopes to see his team on the world’s stage: “My goal is for Ohio Wesleyan to be competitive on an international level,” he says.

The team also chose British Parliamentary style because it “reflects the inherent values of Ohio Wesleyan with its global focus,” Smith adds, explaining that the format includes four teams debating at once: two teams in proposition and two in opposition.

The style is especially challenging, Smith explains, because it involves working with an unfamiliar second team and requires participants to out-debate, but still support, their new allies.

“You have to be better than the other two on your side without knifing them,” Smith says. “That’s what it’s called—knifing.”

Student debaters find out their topics only 15 minutes before they begin speaking, Schmitt says, and at this point teams are permitted only to refer to the printed case files they’ve prepared in advance. If the topic isn’t in those files, teams must rely on their collective personal knowledge. They are not allowed to jump onto the Internet, ask an adviser, or phone a friend for help.

British Parliamentary debates always begin with the phrase “This House believes,” Schmitt says. Topics debated at Yale IV included “This House believes…”

• The United States should impose sanctions if Israel does not withdraw from the West Bank.
• Medicaid should cover the cost of all legal abortions.
• The Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded only posthumously.

While the topics at Yale IV tended to reflect current events, that’s not always the case, team members say. Some debate topics, such as those used in September at the Huber Debates at the University of Vermont, tend to be more philosophical than practical. An example, Smith says, is “should animals be kept as pets?”

“OWU is very good at the practical,” Smith adds, “but we’ve had to really work on the philosophical debates.” The OWU Debate Association sent 11 students to Vermont—five teams and one judge. The highest-ranking teams finished 10th and 19th, missing semifinal competition by a mere point.

To help team members better understand the art of philosophical debate, they contacted OWU associate professor of philosophy Erin Flynn, Ph.D., for help. Flynn held a workshop to help them better understand how to transition from philosophical arguments to practical ones.

All of the team’s hard work and effort is worth it, says Alina Ruzmetova ’11 of Uzbekistan.

“It’s academically fulfilling,” says Ruzmetova, an international studies and economics major who anticipates a career in international relations and policy-making after graduate school. “It requires learning and a broad base of knowledge. Debating is a good skill. It requires you to think creatively and to be able to present effectively.”

OWU’s current debate team consists of 11 regular competitors and nearly 20 more in training. Additional members of the regular team are: Michel Wigney ’13 of Sacramento; Eric Charette ’12 of West Seneca, New York; Adithya Manohar ’12 of Bangalore, India; Katie Edgar ’10 of Phoenix; Zeke Brechtel ’13 of Denver; and Yavor Danailov ’12 of Sevlievo, Bulgaria.

If Javaid gets his wish, the team will compete in the national championships in April in Denver and will host a match at Ohio Wesleyan before he graduates in May. He also is pleased that the team continues to grow and has competed so successfully so quickly.

“The entire debate circle in the United States knows who we are,” he says. “We’ve hit the ground running this year.”

– Cole Hatcher