The Monmouth College debate team is experiencing success as they take their tour across campuses in Illinois. This past weekend MC fielded four teams made up of: Benjamin Sauer and Alex Roling, Demarcko Butler and Nicole Lynch, Brittany Miller and Olivia Leonard , and Briana Flynn and Sarah Sauer.

They left early Friday, Feb. 15, and headed to Harper College in Palatine, Ill., where they competed against various opponents, including teams from the University of Illinois, Northern Illinois University, Harper College, North Central College and College of DuPage.

There were six rounds of debate for each team in the tournament, and in those rounds, students were given a topic on contemporary politics, social problems or contemporary society. From those topics, the students were asked to prepare a forty-five minute speech, with fifteen minutes to prepare for it. The debates were then judged by a panel of faculty members and trained evaluators.

Flynn, a sophomore member of the debate team, says this of the experience, “Before last weekend, I had never competed in debate, and wasn’t sure what to think going into the tournament. But everyone on the team worked together and had a great time--I was glad to be a part of it.”

Flynn’s teammates, Sauer and Roling, must have had a great time as well, as they brought in the gold medal and first place overall in the tournament. This reflected a certain memory for Monmouth College, as it recalls the 1947 MC debate team, who was ranked #1 in the nation. The debate team on campus has been around for over fifty years, and the 1947 team is highlighted in most conversations about it. But this year, as the debate team continues their journey to surrounding campuses, they want to make their own history. 

Sauer and Roling are co-presidents of the debate team, and are in charge of holding practices and completing all necessary material to compete in competitions. Along with these two, heading the group is: Steskal, who is the president of ScotSpeak (an organization on campus including both speech and debate); Jason Magafas, the president of the speech team; and Benita Dilley, the faculty advisor for the debate team organization, who helps run the debate team as well.

Within the next month, the debate team will be competing in some great debate tournaments, such as the Lincoln Parliamentary Debate Tournament at North Central College on February 23-24 and the IIFA State Tournament at Illinois Central College on the weekend of February 29.

Sauer is very excited about the upcoming debates, and wants more students to try and get involved on the team, saying, “Speech and debate tournaments are an excellent way to improve oral communication skills and critical thinking.  Debate and impromptu speaking, especially, challenge individuals to form a cohesive argument in a structured speech with minimal preparation, which is an essential skill for students seeking numerous professional careers.”

If you are interested in finding out more about the debate team, speech team or ScotSpeak, feel free to contact, Sauer at bsauer@monm.edu or Roling at aroling@monm.edu about the debate team; Magafas at jmagafas@monm.edu for speech questions; or Steskal at psteskal@monm.edu or Benita Dilley at bdilley@monm.edu, for any other questions you may have about any of the above topics.

Those involved in the debate team have come out with many positive experiences, as Olivia Leonard says, “I feel that the debate team is coming to be a great experience, to me there is nothing as exhilarating as being up there behind the podium and debating.” So, if you are interested in getting involved in this organization, don’t debate, just do it.

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