By Dr. Julie Welker | Howard Payne University’s speech and debate team, Student Speaker Bureau, competed at their first tournament of the 2022-2023 season. Junior Landon Chenault, social science jurisprudence and Guy D. Newman honors major from Denton, won the varsity division of individual International Public Debate Association (IPDA) style debate.
The HPU team was one of 28 universities from 11 different states.
Chenault also competed in team IPDA debate with senior partner Devin Schurman, strategic communication, social science jurisprudence and Guy D. Newman honors major from San Antonio. They advanced to the quarterfinals. Both earned speaker awards in team IPDA, Schurman winning second place speaker and Chenault was named third place speaker. Freshmen Katelyn Sims, strategic communication major from Cleburne, and Cora Raub, nursing major from Celina, also ranked in the top 10 speakers in team IPDA.
The team’s successes are the result of their hard work. Dr. Julie Welker, head of the department of communication and SSB coach, said that this team has an exceptional work ethic.
“Besides our work during class, Devin, the team captain, leads debate practices in the evening. Both he and Landon are great examples for our new team members to look up to and learn from,” said Welker.
Schurman said the team has been drilling on a weekly basis.
“During practice, we work on the basics of IPDA and then running rounds to help the novices get used to the format. This has been crucial in helping us compete at such a high level,” said Schurman.
Schurman added that the novices have also taken a lot of effort themselves and put in hours outside of class to try and grow their skills.
Welker added that the novices—three freshmen women—are some of the most dedicated debaters she has seen in her years of coaching.
“They are dialed in during every class and every practice. They are already debating on a higher level than most first-time collegiate debaters. Their work is paying off already, as they all three did very well at our first tournament,” Welker said.
Freshman Adrielle Sloan, a strategic communication major from Blue Ridge, notched fourth place novice speaker, and Sims and Raub scored in the top 10 speakers.
In his final year on the team, and one of HPU’s top debaters, Schurman said his goal is to see HPU’s competitors ranked at the top at every tournament.
“This first tournament saw that happen with our members winning multiple speaker awards as well as Landon winning the tournament,” he added.
The International Public Debate Association is one of the fastest-growing interscholastic debate associations in the nation with competitive programs across the U.S. Its mission is to provide an opportunity for individuals to develop their advocacy skills in a forum that promotes appropriate and effective communication.
The team will compete in four more tournaments this fall, including traveling to Oxford, England, to compete in the third-largest debate tournament in the world, the Oxford Inter-Varsity Debate Tournament.