Kyran Cates
Reporter
College debate has the ability to inspire future politicians, educators and leaders of the postgraduate world through constructive competition. From March 18 through March 21, Idaho State University’s debate team competed virtually at the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament, which is one of the largest debate tournaments in the country.
ISU’s top competitors, including Kaden Marchetti, Colter Barker, Joseph Tyler, Jazlynn Carranza, Alyson Tyler and Abbey Vaughn demonstrated great prowess in their respective debates. Most of the competitors advanced past their preliminary rounds into octofinals, quarterfinals and final rounds.
Most impressively, senior computer science major Kaden Marchetti and freshman computer science major Colter Barker won the national championship in a public forum debate, a two versus two debate format. This was the second consecutive year that ISU’s debate team earned this title.
Andy Christensen, assistant director of the ISU debate team said, “This tournament was a COVID-19 casualty last year, canceled just two weeks before heading to San Diego to try for national titles. I was so grateful all of our participants did well this weekend, and it’s particularly exciting that the public forum pair made it to the final round to recapture their title.”
This year, the National Comprehensive Tournament was held virtually due to COVID-19, but that didn’t stop The Bengal debate team from giving it their all and debating with the utmost eloquence to receive several awards and recognitions at a national level.
Marchetti is graduating in May with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, meaning the final round of competition at the National Comprehensive Tournament was his last competitive round, bringing an end to his seven-year debate career. The team will be disheartened to see him go, but with such promising younger members, they should bounce back in time for the next debate season.
When asked about Marchetti and Barker, sophomore political science major Jazlynn Carranza said, “It’s always so fun to watch Kaden’s process when developing cases. He and Colter work in such unison, both phenomenal debaters!”
Barker has had incredible successes in his first year of college debate and throughout his high school speech and debate career, including qualifying for the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Dallas, Texas back in 2019. Now, having the title of a national public forum champion, he can continue pushing his teammates to work hard, stay motivated and refine their debating skills.
In addition to a national title, ISU’s debate team received several other awards and recognitions. Idaho State University received the fourth place sweepstakes award for small squad entries, meaning that even though the team was small, they proved they have what it takes to compete with the other 70 universities in the tournament.
Debate gives students the opportunity to educate themselves on new issues, consider both sides of every argument and improve their communication skills in their everyday lives. From developing arguments to practicing speeches, teamwork is one of the biggest aspects when it comes to competitions.
“The team really pulled closer together in the face of COVID-19. It takes a real team effort, a lot of sacrifice, training, and endurance to win these kinds of competitions,” said Sarah Partlow-Lefeve, head coach of the debate team.
While Marchetti and Barkers’ victory was the highlight of the tournament for the team, other competitors had achievements of their own. Junior computer science major Joseph Tyler advanced to the quarterfinal round in varsity International Parliamentary debate, and in varsity extemporaneous speaking.
Meanwhile, Jazlynn Carranza progressed to the octofinals round in the junior varsity international parliamentary debate. For superior speaking quality, Marchetti and Barker were ranked first and second speakers in the public forum, and Tyler was ranked the seventh speaker in the varsity parliamentary division.
Finally, Marchetti was also given the Pi Kappa Delta All-American Award for excellence in debate as well as academic achievement, personal development and civic engagement, which is quite rare.
“I’m so sad to watch Kaden end his 7-year debate career, but happy he ended it on a happy note as a two-time national public forum champion,” added Carranza.
Debate is often credited with encouraging people to become more comfortable expressing their own ideas, questioning things they’ve always accepted as true, and defending their beliefs with facts and statistics. Critical thinking becomes a constant facet of debaters’ lives in almost no time.
The truth is beyond important in today’s world, which is why ISU’s debate team should be applauded for their efforts to shine a light on injustice across the world. In short, congratulations to the Bengal Debate Team for their successes at the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament.
