WPDU Pulls Off Rare Triple Play at Richmond Tourney
The WPDU pulled off a rare feat October 13-15, 2007, qualifying three varsity teams for the elimination rounds at the Jay Weinberg Autumn Debate Tournament hosted by the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia.
"It really is incredible to clear three teams in varsity," said tournament host Kevin Kuswa, assistant professor of communication and director of debate at Richmond. "To clear three teams into the top 16 in one year is quite a feat, one rarely accomplished. We cannot find record of any single school clearing more than three teams in varsity to the sweet sixteen, and only two examples of a single school clearing 3 teams."
-
- Kathryn Wright
Among the three Pittsburgh tandems starring at Richmond was first-year debater Kathryn Wright and sophomore Jennifer Sweeney. Wright, coming off a stellar high school debating career at Chamblee High School in Atlanta, Georgia, teamed with Sweeney to notch victories against Georgetown, Gonzaga, James Madison and Boston College in the preliminary rounds at Richmond. In the octafinal elimination round against Harvard, they argued the negative side of the 2007-2008 college policy debate resolution calling for a change in U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East. Drawing from the work of critical International Relations theorists David Campbell and Michael Dillon, the Pitt duo argued that framing U.S. policy as a security issue locked Harvard into a proposal that was bound to backfire.
Also at Richmond, sophomore Michael Mangus won the seventh speaker award, racking up an impressive 226 speaker points and netting top speaker designation in 6 of 8 preliminary rounds. Mangus and sophomore partner Sarah Banducci also qualified for the elimination rounds, besting Towson, Georgetown, and three Liberty teams along the way.
The WPDU tandem of junior John Karlovic and senior Guy Risko was the Panther's highest seed in the elimination rounds, clearing with a 5-3 record and both receiving top-ten speaker awards.
-
- Sisi Liu
The WPDU opened its fall tournament travel schedule with a splash, winning numerous individual speaker and team awards at the Thurgood Marshall Season Opener hosted by Towson University September 15-16, 2007. Highlights included speaker awards for first-year debaters Jeff Kurr, Sisi Liu, and Wright. "I am quite pleased with the students' performance at Towson, their first tournament under my directorship," said Shanara Reid-Brinkley, Pittsburgh's new director of debate. "We've really bonded well as a team and worked hard to start the year off running."
The team is hard at work in preparation for their next tournament appearance at Wake Forest University, scheduled for the weekend of November 10-12, 2007.