Hundreds of college students wait anxiously with sleeping bags in hand, after traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles. They are ready for a weekend of intense competition against opposing teams from around the country. This isn't March Madness; this is the world of debating. In a world where names like Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Stanford reign supreme, the Hamilton College Debate Society is stepping in to butt heads with the best of American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA).
Four years ago, the Hamilton College Debate Society was becoming a distant memory. Participation was low, enthusiasm was lower, and the once vibrant club was on life support. Enter Matt Coleman '06 and Erik Goulding '06. Then freshmen, the two saw an ad in the Daily Bull for an organizational meeting of the debate society and decided to join in on reviving the club back to its past glory. Their work paid off. The team is now a member of the APDA, one of two national collegiate parliamentary debate leagues in the country. With a dozen members committed to competition and several others involved in the organization on campus, they were able to participate in five tournaments this year. They traveled to Vassar College in late October, M.I.T. the first weekend in December, Amherst College on February 24 and 25, Stanford University the next weekend and the University of Chicago the weekend of March 31.
However, debating isn't as easy as "Frank the Tank" made it look in Old School: the club meets twice a week to practice and determine which tournaments to attend. They also practice against nearby Hobart and William Smith Colleges to sharpen their familiarity with the parliamentary debate system and improve their critical thinking, to analyze their arguments and gain exposure to different view points and debating strategies.
There are two teams in each debate: the government team that selects the topic and side they wish to take in the argument and the opposition which must take the opposing side of the topic. No team is the government team for every debate. The topic is determined by the opening statement made by the government team, giving the opposition only minutes to develop their opposing arguments. To make it even more difficult, competitors are subject to a wide range of topics. Anything from "Should Congress allow the President to wire tap American citizens?" to "Making it legal to sell your kidneys," is fair game. But with all the practice and help from faculty like communications professors John Adams and Catherine Phelan, the debate society is prepared for anything and everything.
With each of this year's tournament appearances, the team has seen dramatic improvements. They started at Vassar with a number of novice speakers, but performed well. The tournaments at M.I.T., Amherst and Stanford gave the team valuable experience against top schools, with all their efforts paying huge dividends at the University of Chicago tournament on March 31. In the tournament, the Hamilton College Debate Society reached the quarterfinals, finishing seventh out of 40 teams, and Jessica Yau '08 finished as the top novice speaker.
With just three seniors, there is a promising future ahead for the debate society. As a result of its recent success in tournaments and its growing numbers, its members can be confident that the club will not again need the resuscitation it received from Coleman and Goulding four years ago. Even "Frank the Tank" would have to agree, "That's how you debate!"
-by Mike Kennett
Four years ago, the Hamilton College Debate Society was becoming a distant memory. Participation was low, enthusiasm was lower, and the once vibrant club was on life support. Enter Matt Coleman '06 and Erik Goulding '06. Then freshmen, the two saw an ad in the Daily Bull for an organizational meeting of the debate society and decided to join in on reviving the club back to its past glory. Their work paid off. The team is now a member of the APDA, one of two national collegiate parliamentary debate leagues in the country. With a dozen members committed to competition and several others involved in the organization on campus, they were able to participate in five tournaments this year. They traveled to Vassar College in late October, M.I.T. the first weekend in December, Amherst College on February 24 and 25, Stanford University the next weekend and the University of Chicago the weekend of March 31.
However, debating isn't as easy as "Frank the Tank" made it look in Old School: the club meets twice a week to practice and determine which tournaments to attend. They also practice against nearby Hobart and William Smith Colleges to sharpen their familiarity with the parliamentary debate system and improve their critical thinking, to analyze their arguments and gain exposure to different view points and debating strategies.
There are two teams in each debate: the government team that selects the topic and side they wish to take in the argument and the opposition which must take the opposing side of the topic. No team is the government team for every debate. The topic is determined by the opening statement made by the government team, giving the opposition only minutes to develop their opposing arguments. To make it even more difficult, competitors are subject to a wide range of topics. Anything from "Should Congress allow the President to wire tap American citizens?" to "Making it legal to sell your kidneys," is fair game. But with all the practice and help from faculty like communications professors John Adams and Catherine Phelan, the debate society is prepared for anything and everything.
With each of this year's tournament appearances, the team has seen dramatic improvements. They started at Vassar with a number of novice speakers, but performed well. The tournaments at M.I.T., Amherst and Stanford gave the team valuable experience against top schools, with all their efforts paying huge dividends at the University of Chicago tournament on March 31. In the tournament, the Hamilton College Debate Society reached the quarterfinals, finishing seventh out of 40 teams, and Jessica Yau '08 finished as the top novice speaker.
With just three seniors, there is a promising future ahead for the debate society. As a result of its recent success in tournaments and its growing numbers, its members can be confident that the club will not again need the resuscitation it received from Coleman and Goulding four years ago. Even "Frank the Tank" would have to agree, "That's how you debate!"
-by Mike Kennett
