Gannon Debating Society Takes Third Place in National Tournament

The Gannon Debating Society at Saint Peter’s University won third position overall in the sweepstakes of the National Educational Debate Association’s 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 ’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. Saint Peter’s students debate for fun. Thus, I am really proud of our achievements.”

He added, “We 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 ’15and Charles Weening ’16 were named semi-finalists in the Novice Crossfire division; Sean Block ’13 and Neupane were named semi-finalists in the Varsity Crossfire division; and Best Speaker awards were won by Stephen Kenny ’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.