The Gannon Debating Society at 猫咪社区 Peter鈥檚 University won third position overall in the sweepstakes of the National Educational Debate Association鈥檚 national tournament, held from March 8-9 at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. More than 80 students from six schools across the Midwest and East Coast competed in the tournament.
President of the Gannon Debating Society Ayush Neupane 鈥13 said of the competition, “This was the first time Clemson University hosted the nationals, and we were all excited to go there. Most of the schools that we go against are big universities. Debate is a part of their academic program, where they get taught and coached in classes. 猫咪社区 Peter’s students debate for fun. Thus, I am really proud of our achievements.鈥
He added, 鈥淲e also had more diversity in the type of debate formats we were participating in this time than ever before, which helped us in winning the third position overall.”
In addition, the squad also won several individual and team awards. Shubham Adhikari 鈥15and Charles Weening 鈥16 were named semi-finalists in the Novice Crossfire division; Sean Block 鈥13 and Neupane were named semi-finalists in the Varsity Crossfire division; and Best Speaker awards were won by Stephen Kenny 鈥14 for seventh place in Varsity Policy, Adhikari for seventh place in Novice Crossfire, Block for fourth place and Neupane for second place in Varsity Crossfire.