FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 4, 2023
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Glenville State University
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Glenville State University’s Debate Team Strikes “Gold” at Slippery Rock Tournament
Glenville State University's Pioneer Debate team competed in the National Educational Debate Association's (NEDA) Slippery Rock University tournament September 22-23. The tournament included 74 individual competitors from seven schools: Slippery Rock, Grove City, Dayton, Wayne State, Glenville State, Capital, and IMSA North.
Pioneer Debate’s two teams competed in the Novice Crossfire division. Rebekah Hypes (Sophomore Criminal Justice major) and teammate Sandra Crites (Sophomore Education major) finished 3rd overall. Noah Minor (Sophomore Business Management and Land Surveying double-major) and teammate Victoria Osborne (Sophomore Criminal Justice major) finished 5th overall. Rebekah Hypes topped all individual scores for a first-place divisional finish, and Noah Minor scored a fifth-place divisional finish.
This was the second tournament for Hypes and Minor. “I believe when I graduate,” said Minor, “my ability to stand up for my ideas and share my thoughts will have been greatly enhanced by my time with Pioneer Debate, and I think anyone who wants to be a great leader one day, or just a confident speaker, should have debate in their life.” Hypes explained that she appreciates the unique professional development opportunity provided by debate: “Debate makes me a more confident speaker and allows me to become more comfortable with confrontation and argument, which is important for my desired job in law enforcement.”
All four of GSU’s competitors for this tournament were from Nicholas County. For Osborne and Crites, the tournament was their first-time debating. Osborne extolled the opportunity to generate experience and meet new people from other colleges. Crites, whose education major features social studies, hopes to create her own debate team for middle school social studies: “Before this tournament, I was terrified and wasn’t confident with how the debates were going to go. It helped me with my uneasiness with public speaking.” Crites added, “Debate has also helped me with being patient with others.”
Pioneer Debate next competes in NEDA’s online tournament on Saturday, November 4. “You have to be amazed at the work our students put into their success. What they’re learning through debate will benefit them the rest of their professional careers and exponentially boost their value as community leaders wherever their paths lead after GSU,” said Pioneer Debate’s director and coach Dr. Brian Johnston. Glenville State University will host its first NEDA tournament March 15-16, 2023. “This event is going to be huge not just for us, but for the entire campus and city of Glenville community. We’ve added a whole new level to Pioneer pride and excellence and it’s entirely because of these students’ commitment and courage.”
Dr. Brian Johnston (Department of Language and Literature) and Dr. Josh Squires (Political Science) coach GSU's first debate team in 25 years. Pioneer Debate seeks funding to support travel to competitive debate tournaments. Contact GSU VP of Advancement David Hutchinson by email (David.Hutchison@glenville.edu) or phone (304-462-6381) to support Pioneer Debate.
PIONEER DEBATE is a co-curricular competitive debate team in the Department of Language and Literature at Glenville State University. Students develop professional skills in critical thinking, civil listening, argumentation, research, and creative problem-solving through weekly meetings, competitive debates, and campus events. Participation in Pioneer Debate is open to all GSU students.
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL DEBATE ASSOCIATION is an academic debate circuit serving the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.
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