For the first time in IU debate history, a two-person team, consisting of senior Bee Smale and sophomore Harry Aaronson, competed in the elimination round of the national debate competition held at Georgia State University on Monday.
Smale and Aaronson battled some of the most elite schools in the nation, such as Emory and Northwestern, at the competition, which is held each year as the season opener for the collegiate debating season. The team completed their preliminary run with five wins and three losses, placing them in the 23rd seed for the elimination round.
Smale, who has participated in debate throughout high school and college, said that the team’s final debate of the competition was very close and not easily decided by the judges. The team lost the round in a two-to-one decision by the panel of judges who are present in all elimination-round debates.
However, each member took away key information from the loss and the tournament.
“Generally, the biggest takeaway was more about nature of the topic as different people interpreted,” Aaronson said. “We got a better sense of what type of arguments people are making.”
Smale, who uses singular they pronouns, said they liked the feedback the team received from collegiate professionals from other schools.
“One of the cool things about debating is the judges are graduate assistants or professors,” Smale said. “They take the opportunity to explain and say what you could have done better. ”
The team goes through rigorous prepation. They come to IU a week before classes start. Then, the members do daily research, have weekly meetings to discuss strategy and participate in practice debates as part of their ongoing preparation.
The rigorous preparation comes with a purpose. During tournaments, the teams will participate in four debates per day, each debate lasting two hours.
“It is hyper-competitive,” Smale said. “It makes for a very long, intellectually tough and physically exhausting day.”
With the pressure and competition seen at the national debate competitions, the team culture among the IU debaters is one of success and support.
“The team was established the year before I got here, and there was not a strong upperclassmen presence,” Smale said. “This year is a group of seniors that are dedicated to building that team culture of success.”
As a second-year debater, Aaronson said he sees the effect the upperclassmen have had on the team’s performance, too.
“They made the environment very welcoming and easy to come into the team,” Aaronson said. “They have done a great job of setting good standards for freshmen to work hard.”
