The VSU Debate Team traveled to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville on January 29-February 1. Valdosta State finished in first place for the IPDA (Individual Parliamentary Debate Association) format and third place in the NPDA (National Parliamentary Debate Association) format.

Hannah Tabrizi finished as the first place IPDA team while Mercy Dahn finished in 5th place IPDA varsity. Mercy also received third place IPDA varsity speaker honors while Allante Fairley received 5th place varsity IPDA speaker honors.

In the NPDA division, Hannah and Allante finished 3rd place overall in the varsity division.

Ben Carter and Lexi Outlaw finished 3rd place overall in the novice division. Lexi also received first place novice NPDA speaker honors. This is especially commendable since she is a freshman at VSU.

In all, there were nine schools who attended this regional meet.  The VSU Blazers continued their winning ways.  The state championship is scheduled for February 13-14 at Piedmont College.

Additionally, The VSU Debate team participated in the 2015 Annual Gorlok Forensics Invitational in St Louis at Webster University January 23-26. 49 schools and universities competed from 20 different states. It was the largest Gorlok ever held.

Darian Hector and Justin Flick (CSU-Chico) swing team placed third in the junior varsity team. Kyle Denslow and Ashilee Thomas placed fifth in the junior varsity division. In addition, Ashilee received 5th best speaker overall while Kyle took home 6th place speaker overall.

The varsity team did quite well. Mercy Dahn and Chesley McNeil advanced further in the highest division than any Blazer team from the past. They made it to 9th place, out of 45 teams. This is especially noteworthy due to the size and strength of the tourney. Also, it was their very first tournament together.

Dr. Michael Eaves

Department of Communication Arts