Largest Group in King’s Debate Society History Competes in Canada

The King’s Debate Society traveled to Canada last weekend with the largest group in KDS history to attend an international tournament, for the Hart House I.V. hosted by the University of Toronto. The group was comprised of nine students, four of whom are first-year debaters, and coach Josiah Peterson. “The Hart House I.V. is one of the top three most competitive tournaments in North America,” said Peterson, “so we were especially excited to be able to bring such a large group to experience this high quality international competition.”

King's Debate Society group photo in Canada
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The King’s Debate Society traveled to Canada last weekend with the largest group in KDS history to attend an international tournament, for the Hart House I.V. hosted by the University of Toronto. The group comprised nine students, four of whom are first-year debaters, and coach Josiah Peterson. “The Hart House I.V. is one of the top three most competitive tournaments in North America,” said Peterson, “so we were especially excited to be able to bring such a large group to experience this high quality international competition.”

In an almost 100-year-old Gothic-style debate union larger than King’s NYC campus, 100 teams argued about topics including terrorism in Columbia, media ethics, the nature of soulmates, and Wikileaks. The experience was not without challenges for the KDS teams, including a nine-hour car ride, tough debates against world class teams, and being woken up at 2 o’clock in the morning by a hotel fire alarm. Nevertheless, a spirit of fun and excitement continued throughout the trip.

Aaron Cho (’20), who competed with fellow freshman MaryKathryn Samelson (‘20), said, “I was really impressed at how talented everyone at the tournament was and how beautiful the campus and city were. The tournament challenged me to be a more confident speaker, to learn how to construct good arguments, to think through both sides of the motion, and engage with and contribute to the debate rounds. I definitely want to keep developing my debate skills and stamina so that I can be more competitive in tournaments and more articulate in general.”

Freshman Eddie VanZandt (’20) also debated at the tournament, with Bernadette Berdychowski (’20). “I was definitely challenged as a debater, and I feel like I really learned a lot,” he said. “We got last place in the first four debate rounds—that just felt really crushing at the time. I was ready to give up long before we started round five, but Berns and Josiah and my other teammates encouraged me to keep going and give my all, and we managed to finish second in our final round. This was both due to encouragement, persistence, and lessons learned from the first rounds.”

Upperclassmen Audrey Cooper (’18), Grayson Logue (’18), Kyle Kendrick (’19), and Kaitlyn Hasegawa (’19) attended the tournament as well. Cooper and Logue also competed at the 2015 Hart House tournament, and their team improved on the previous year’s performance to finish one point short of advancing to the open quarterfinal.

KDS Niagara Falls

While the teams did not take home any trophies, they did witness the effectiveness of King’s faithful presence on the debate circuit. In a quarterfinal round about whether the Canadian bar association should accredit a Christian law school, one of the teams argued that Christians are irrational, discriminatory, and ultimately incapable of practicing law fairly in a secular, democratic society. In response, the opposing debaters referenced King’s students as an example of open-minded, rational people with committed religious beliefs who make valuable contributions to law and government — and the team that used King’s in their response went on to win the tournament.

En route back to New York City, the team stopped at Niagara Falls to grab some photos as a way to remember the trip:

VanZandt said, “I went [to Niagara] at the end of summer last year, and it was so cool for me to reflect on the difference a year had made in my life. I’d never heard of King’s a year ago, never thought I’d have friends like the ones I have, and certainly never thought that I’d return to Niagara with a group of people who I genuinely care about and who I know genuinely care about me. Cheesy, I know, but that was definitely the highlight.”

Next up for the King’s Debate Society are the Huber Debates at the University of Vermont (October 29-30), the Yale I.V. (November 4-6), and the Oxford I.V. (November 11-12).  


The King’s Debate Society exists to train students to effectively advocate truth in the marketplace of ideas. Please contact debate@tkc.edu with any questions or for more information about the society.


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