The American University Debate Society finished the year strong, finishing higher in every major category than ever before in team history. The Debate Society finished ranked in the top 10 nationally in the Team of the Year (TOTY) competition, Speaker of the Year (SOTY) competition, and in the College of the Year (COTY) competitions, making this easily the most successful year for the team on the circuit. Here are some of the final results!
Team of the Year
- Stephanie Caravias and James Schmitt: 6th Team of the Year
Speaker of the Year
- James Schmitt: 10th Speaker of the Year
- Leah Storer: 19th Speaker of the Year
Novice of the Year
- Kurt Girard: 12th Novice of the Year
College of the Year
- American University: 7th College of the Year
In addition, the Debate Society won three tournaments, taking home first place at the William and Mary Invitational, at the University of Maryland, College Park tournament, and at the University of Virginia memorial tournament. The team also took home top speaker honors at tournaments hosted by William and Mary and Franklin and Marshall. Finally, the team’s novices were just as successful, winning the novice divisions at tournaments hosted by Johns Hopkins University, Franklin and Marshall University, and Princeton University, and placing second at Franklin and Marshall (in addition to first), Swarthmore, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Pennsylvania, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, George Washington University, Rutgers University, and the University of Maryland, College Park (second tournament). AUDS also took top novice speaker honors at Johns Hopkins University, Franklin and Marshall, and Bryn Mawr.
The fact that we can have such a long run-on sentence about our achievements makes us proud. This weekend, the Debate Society travels to the United States Military Academy at West Point to compete in the National Championships.