TheBestoftheBestBatt/eforTopRanking

By Randy King

The voiceswere strainedand thecompetition was fierce as the best ofthebest met to compete at Liberty University in the Spring of 1997. On March 20-24 LibertyUniversityhad the honor of hosting the 51st annual National Debate Tournament. It was a time when some ofthe Nation'squickestminds vied for the honorof beingNumber One.

More than 400 debaters, coaches and judges from nearly 40 of the top universities and collegesinthe country wereinvolved inthetournament. Some ofthe schoolsrepresented were: Dartmouth College, George- town University, Harvard University, University ofMichigan, University ofSouthernCalifornia, and Wake Forest University.

The 1996 vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp was the keynote speaker. Dr. Jerry Falwell also addressed thedebaters at the National Debate Tournament Banquet which kicked offtheTournament.

The NDT originated atthe United StatesMilitary Academy in 1947. For the first twodecades of its historyitwas conductedat West Point. The West PointAdministration, in consultation with renowned debate coaches from across the nation, formulatedmany of the rules bywhich the tournament is conducted even tothis day.

In 1967, theAmericanForensic Association, thenational professional organization of forensicseducators assumed responsibility for the National Debate Tournament. Since then, the NDT has been hosted by a different school every year, exceptions being West Georgia and Miami University of Ohiowhich have both hosted it twice.

For Liberty and its debate team, hosting the tournament was an impressive honor init- self. Inearning the privilege of hosting the 51st tournament, Liberty became the youngestinstitution to host the ND T ever. That a school with lessyears in itshistory than the tournament should host the nation's premiere debate competition is a reflectionon the achievements of Liberty's team said Brett O'Donnell, the head coach of Liberty's debate team

O'Donnell said, "The prestige oftheteam is thereasonthat Liberty had the credibility to submit a bid [for hosting the tournament]".

Gaining this respect isquite an accomplishment, especially since Liberty is the only Chris- tian school represented in the conference. Freshman JV Debater Lacy Siegalkoff commented on Liberty's challenge regarding the two. "The debate circuit is a highly specialized mission fieldbecause we haveto achieve intellectual and debate credibility to effectively representChrist."

Liberty's debaters were also very honored and excited about hosting the tournament.Debater Mark Crawford called it the"Super Bowl of Debate." Varsity

Debater Bill Lawrence, who along with his partner R.J Snell competed in the tournament, commented that Liberty's involvement inthe conference was a sign of the school's growing prestige in the academic world. "Ibelieve that it says a lotabout the respect the school isgetting in the area of Debate and Academics," said Lawrence.

This was Lawrence's third time competing in the NDT, and as thiswas hisjunior year,he is hoping tocompete a fourth time atnext year's NDT. "Competing in the ND T is the ultimate accomplishment for a debater," saidLawrence. "Making it to the ND T once is amazing initself, but I will be able to go four times."