Wheaton debater wins top honors at national tournament
April 9, 2001
Wheaton sophomore Simon Leen won the top honors at the 42nd Annual Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament and Conference, held last week in Boise, Idaho.
Performance at the tournament is rated on number of wins and a speaker rating for each round (from 1 to 30 points, 30 being the best). At the tournament, Leen, a resident of McKinleyville, Calif., won three of the six preliminary rounds with an average of 26 speaker points per debate.
Leen began debating last fall when Wheaton established its first debate team and became a member of Pi Kappa Delta Honorary Society. Pi Kappa Delta is a national forensics honor society open to institutions with forensic programs (speech and debate programs). This year, twenty-seven states were represented by sixty-four colleges and universities at the tournament, competing in a variety of speech and debate events. More than 170 students competed in 5 different forms of debate.
''I[base ']d never considered debate before this year, but it sounded enjoyable, and I thought I could be good at it,'' Leen said. ''I like to prepare for a debate, and I like to write the affirmative cases,'' he said. ''My favorite part is making the case stronger through good research.''
Wheaton participates in the Lincoln-Douglas style of debate, in which students research and write arguments supporting a common resolution for an entire debate season. ''Students learn to evaluate arguments using evidence they have discovered,'' said John Devine, Wheaton[base ']s debate director. ''Researching and writing arguments as a team is valuable training for any college student.''
Leen's efforts and achievements have firmly established Wheaton's reputation for excellence in its first year of competitive debate. Leen has also qualified for the National Forensic Association Championship tournament by placing fifth at the Wheaton College/University of Rhode Island Tournament in December. Since then the team has competed at the Suffolk University/Simmons College Tournament in Boston, New England Championships at Plymouth State College (Plymouth, NH), and this tournament.
The final tournament of the year will be the NFA Championships held at the University of Western Kentucky, Bowling Green, KY, over the third weekend in April. Competitors can attend the tournament if they have qualified by placing at a regular season tournament. Typically, most states are represented, and the debate field consists of approximately seventy competitors.
Leen is modest about his accomplishments, attributing his success to the strength of legal evidence available and to his written case argument. ''Finding evidence that will work well against other arguments is the real trick,'' he said.
Last updated on 4/16/01.
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