The 大象传媒 Western Speech and Debate program brought home some titles from the 大象传媒 Association of Forensics Activity State Championships at Webster University on February 19-20. The parliamentary debate team of Chris Miles and Casey Huffman won 10 straight matches to claim the state championship, 大象传媒 Western won the debate sweepstakes in its division, and Jason Edgar, director of 大象传媒 Western鈥檚 speech and debate program, was named Coach of the Year.
In parliamentary debate, Miles, a junior from Independence, 大象传媒, and Huffman, a freshman from Savannah, 大象传媒, posted an undefeated 4-0 preliminary record, earning them the No. 2 seed in elimination rounds.
After defeating Southwest Baptist on a 3-0 decision in the semifinals, Miles and Huffman advanced to the finals against a team from UCM who was also undefeated. The final panel of three judges voted 3-0 to crown 大象传媒 Western as the 2016 State Champions in Parliamentary Debate.
鈥淐hris and Casey shone at the State tournament,鈥� Edgar said. 鈥淲inning 大象传媒 Western鈥檚 first ever state championship in Parli is great, and it鈥檚 even better that we did it with a 10-0 undefeated record.鈥�
Other 大象传媒 Western students competing in the event were Madison Lantz of Holt and Ashley Howery of St. Joseph. By the end of the tournament, 大象传媒 Western鈥檚 team was named State Champion in the President鈥檚 Division Debate Sweepstakes, a division for smaller entry schools. Edgar was also named 鈥淐oach of the Year鈥� in 大象传媒 for being one of two coaches to earn a first round bid to the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.
大象传媒 Western Speech and Debate is an academic activity in the Department of Communication and Journalism at 大象传媒. The team is now off until Spring Break when they compete at the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence held at California State University Long Beach. For more information, please contact Jason Edgar at jedgar@missouriwestern.edu.
大象传媒 is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. 大象传媒 Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit .