King’s Debate Continues Successful Record at Vermont Tournament

A group of 13 students from the King’s Debate Society spent the weekend in Burlington, Vermont, debating topics ranging from the trade-off between worker protection laws and economic growth, to mandatory paternity leave, to Israeli settlement policies.

This was the Society’s tenth tournament at the University of Vermont, but the first year attending since the passing of Alfred “Tuna” Snider, the long time UVM coach who was influential in supporting the fledgling King’s Debate Society during its founding years.  Committed to improving the world through debate and discourse, Coach Snider helped new schools get connected with the other coaches and programs, fought for their inclusion in regional and national debate associations, and frequently discounted their participation costs at the tournaments he hosted.

After five rounds of contentious preliminary debates, upperclassmen Audrey Cooper (‘18) and Trivette Knowles (‘18) advanced to the open quarterfinal, where they supported acts of vigilante justice in regions with severe and widespread gendered violence.

“Throughout the tournament, we were able to support our arguments with material we’ve been studying in our classes. For instance, Trivette and I referenced George Washington’s articulation of the necessity of religious morality in democratic societies during a debate about which religions should receive tax-exempt status from the government. That was an argument we had just studied in our American politics course last week.” said Cooper. “I’m proud of how King’s prepares our debaters to advocate for truth in especially controversial and ideological discussions.”

Knowles concurred, “All my principled arguments this weekend were based on primary sources that I’ve been reading in class. It’s great to be able to apply class material outside King’s.”

Eight first-year students also attended the tournament. Competing at her first college tournament, Abby Smith (‘20) said, “I judged at a tournament last month, and left absolutely itching to jump into actual participation. Debating at this tournament was exciting; I loved being able to contribute to the challenging and fast-paced exchange of ideas.”

Smith and her partner Aaron Cho (‘20) finished one point short of advancing to the novice final, along with fellow KDS novices Katie Caswell (‘20) and Jackson Kane (‘20). Haley Davidson (‘20) and Annabelle Ford (‘20) also returned for their second competition together, after the debates at Hobart and William Smith Colleges last month.

Upperclassmen Christian Tegge (‘17) and Ben Sanders (‘17) were also in attendance, in addition to judges Maggie Ford (‘20), Kaitlyn Hasegawa (‘19), Josiah Peterson (KDS coach), Rachelle Peterson (alumna), and Melody Salisbury (‘20).

“I loved going with the team to Vermont,” Ford said. “It was an incredible chance to get to see these debate concepts I’ve been learning about in action. I’m so lucky to get to be a part of such a cool group of people and I can’t wait for Yale!”

Next up, KDS is sending ten students to the Yale I.V. (November 4-6), and will also have one team competing at the Oxford I.V. (November 11-12). Contact debate@tkc.edu for more information or to be added to the mailing list about tournament opportunities in the spring.

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