NEWS

Against more than 80 other competitors, Louisiana Tech junior political science major Leah Hannah was Champion of the Varsity Division in the recent 2019 International Public Debate Association (IPDA) National Championship, the top achievement in an exceptional performance by Tech’s team.

Louisiana Tech Debate Team members are (front, from left) Madison Dunn, Katie McKenzie, Maura Yeagle, Rachel Madore, Leah Hanna, (back, from left) Nate Foster, Brye Edwards, Charlie McBride, Steve Garcia, Kendrick Kruskie, Seth McReynolds, and Cody Kitchens.

Tech placed in the Top 10 of more than 40 schools nationwide that competed in the tournament co-hosted by Tech, Bossier Parish Community College, and LSU-Shreveport. Tech was 11th in the nation in Season Long (total points added up for each tournament all year), and sixth nationally in both the Varsity and Professional divisions.

Maura Yeagle, junior communication major, and Steve Garcia, junior political science major, were 7th in the nation for Season Long Team Debate.

Nate Foster, senior accounting major, was one of the top speakers in Team Debate at the tournament.

Yeagle and Rachel Madore, a senior engineering major, and Garcia and Katie McKenzie, a junior engineering major, were also double octo-finalist in Team Debate.

Senior engineering major Seth McReynolds, junior political science major Kendrick Kruskie, and both Cody Kitchens and Charlie McBride, each a junior computer science major, helped the team place in tournament’s Top 10.

Junior communication major Madison Dunn, and sophomore biology major Brye Edwards served as judges at the tournament.

Hannah and Megan Smith, the team’s coach, travel to West Chester University in Pennsylvania the final week in April for the Interstate Oratorical Society National Tournament, the oldest speech competition in the nation. Hanna qualified for the tournament in persuasive speaking when she won 1st place in Louisiana with her persuasive speech at the Southern Forensics Championship Tournament in January.

The purpose of Tech’s Debate Team is to promote rhetoric, argumentation, education, and forensic skills. For more information, contact Smith in Tech’s Department of Communication at megan@latech.edu