For the first time in the group’s history, the BGSU Forensics and Debate Team took first place at a national competition, not to mention 29 individual awards.
The team’s long list of awards includes five of six awards for best speaker at the event, the Collegiate Forensics Association Championships, held on Jan. 26 and 27.
“There wasn’t any single event that we didn’t excel in,” said Paul Alday, director of the team.
Nicknamed “the Winter Weekend Tournament,” the 22nd annual event is held in Montreal, Canada and features colleges and universities from across the nation, east coast schools in particular.
Alday said his group beat all 15 schools, including Purdue University and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, by a large margin.
“We more than doubled the score of the second place team,” he added.
Success is no stranger to the 14-member group, as they had won team awards 10 times in various national competitions before winning first place at the CFAC. But this win held special meaning for Alday, being his first year with the team.
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “This is both the team’s first victory and my first year as coach.”
Team member Dustin Brozene said his favorite moment at the event was getting to face teammate and friend Rebecca Biggs to determine the event’s best speaker.
“Being able to give her a big hug before they even announced second was great,” he said.
Though Brozene took second, he said he had other reasons to be happy, “I was just so proud of Rebecca and the rest of the team.”
Contestants compete in events requiring them to prepare and give speeches, debate current issues and read poetry, drama and prose.
Even events putting limits on preparations require practice, Alday said. For such events, speakers are given their questions only a few hours before they are to answer them. But the team carries several thick files of newspaper articles and other sources of information to quickly educate the speakers.
“We’ve got everything you could want to learn about that was discussed in the past six months,” he said.
Though Alday is only in his second semester here, he is no stranger to forensics and debate. He coached the forensics team at Midland Lutheran College in Nebraska before coming to the University.
Reading through scrapbooks to learn about the University’s past teams, Alday and his colleagues have determined that the team originated before 1930.
Brozene grabbed one scrapbook and flipped to a page with a former student, Kevin Dean. “He was a machine,” Brozene said, speaking of 50 individual awards Dean won during 1981, setting a record that still stands.
Brozene hopes to one day to top Dean’s achievement.
“I’ve won 27 awards in a season,” Brozene said. “That sounds like a lot, but the record is 50, so that’s what I’m aiming for.”
As for the future, the group is focusing on recruiting for next year. The Ohio Forensics Association Varsity Championship, held on campus last week, marked the end of this season’s competitions.
Forensics study, however, continues throughout the year as the club is part of two courses – Theater 110 and 310.
For more information on the team, call Alday at 372-8856.
