The King’s Debate Society Elects Fourth President
The King’s Debate Society has elected rising junior John Sailer the fourth president.
The King’s Debate Society has elected rising junior John Sailer the fourth president. Sailer takes the helm at a time when the debate society is solidifying the core principles and traditions that have made it one of the most prestigious and successful student organizations in King’s history.
Originally from Winston-Salem, NC, Sailer debated for two years in the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association. Upon coming to King’s, Sailer joined debate right away. “I loved debate in highschool, I wanted to get connected at King’s, and I was eager to try British Parliamentary style debate after my experience in Team Policy format,” said Sailer.
During his two years in debate at King’s, Sailer says he’s learned valuable lessons in critical thinking and argumentation. “I think it’s possible that I’ve learned more from debate than from any class here at King’s,” Sailer said. “That’s not to say that classes at King’s haven’t taught me a lot; obviously they have, and that just makes me all the more impressed by how much debate has helped me become a better thinker.” He added, “Having to constantly be ready to defend every sentence of a speech and find every hole in my opponents arguments has been a great way to train myself to think carefully, thoroughly, and accurately.”
Sailer will have a lot on his plate in the 2013-2014 academic year. He will be acting as president of both The King’s Debate Society and the House of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Sailer is ready for the challenge. “I have two awesome executive teams which will be extremely helpful, I have a lot of time over the summer to do as much planning as I can so nothing huge sneaks up on me, and I have a lot of support from members and alumni of both organizations.”
As for his vision for next year, Sailer says he hopes to see The King’s Debate Society become better integrated into the King’s community as a whole. “It’s always sad to see people find out they like debate at Interregnum when the society has been around all year, and I think we recruit more people if we’re active on campus,” Sailer said. In practice, this would look like hosting public debates on topics of interest to King’s students and inviting them to join.