Dedman College News –
SMU debater and senior Kaleb Simes advanced to the final four of top varsity debaters at the IPDA National Championship in Boise, Idaho (March 23-25). SMU debaters advanced to the elimination rounds of novice and varsity levels of the International Public Debate Association tournament at Boise State University (March 23-25). SMU debaters won 68% of their 40 preliminary round debates on a variety of current topics. They had 30 minutes to prepare either the affirmative or negative side of each of eight different topics. Bulick and Mende advanced to elims in Novice and Ryan and Simes advanced in varsity to elims.
SMU was represented by student debaters Evangeline Bulick, Sarah Mende, Hailey Hazen, Eric Ryan, and Kaleb Simes. There were 96 competitors in novice division, 85 competitors in varsity and more than almost 300 total competitors from across the United Staes.
Over 200 universities participate in International Public Debate Association debates in the past three years. More than 50 universities were in attendance at Boise State including Abilene Christian University, Belmont College, Howard Payne University, Idaho State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Mississippi State University, University of Arkansas, University of Florida, Utah State University and Whitworth University.
SMU finished as the #12 debate program in the United States in IPDA. SMU debaters were coached by Ross Sloan and Keith Milstead. SMU Speech and Debate is sponsored by Dedman College and collaborates with Honors program in Clements Hall. SMU Speech and Debate has a pedagogical mission of equipping individuals to have their voice. Vice President of Student Affairs K.C. Mmeje provided special financial support for the trip to nationals. The program is directed by Dr. Ben Voth, professor of rhetoric.