FORENSICS
Whitworth Forensics is an interdisciplinary program that provides a rigorous intellectual experience for students interested in the exchange of ideas and in sharpening their publicspeaking skills. Forensics is open to all students regardless of their academic major or previous public-speaking experience. The Whitworth forensics team competes in intercollegiate tournaments in the Northwest Forensics Conference and in speech and debate tournaments nationwide. Team members test their skills against some of the finest speakers in the U.S. and consistently earn regional and national recognition. The forensics program covers tournament-related costs, while students contribute the commitment necessary to prepare for and compete in the tournaments. Students also take a one-credit honors course, Applied Speech: Forensics.
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Whitworth Forensics allowed me to gain and practice skills that are vital to success in law school and pertinent to being a lawyer. Being part of the forensics team
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FORENSICS AT WHITWORTH
was one of my favorite and most beneficial Whitworth experiences.
- Rachel Busick, a recent Whitworth mathematics and communication alumna, graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law, where she received the Faculty Scholar Award, the school’s highest scholarship. She is an attorney/special assistant for the General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C.
THE BENEFITS OF WHITWORTH FORENSICS Through Whitworth Forensics, students gain valuable skills and self-confidence that will serve them throughout their lives, both personally and professionally. Whitworth’s forensics alumni have gone on to successful careers in law, business, ministry, teaching, nonprofit fields and a variety of other professions.
SUCCESS STORIES National Champion Debaters
Alex Hoffmann ’16 won the 2016 International Public Debate Association National Tournament in Texas. Travis Walker ’12 and Jacob Wilson ’15 were declared co-national champions after each won semifinal rounds at the 2012 IPDA National Tournament.
National Ethics Bowl Champions
Whitworth won the national championship in 2012, 2016 and 2019. Whitworth was the first private school, the first Christian school and the first liberal arts university to win the national Ethics Bowl championship.
National Christian College Champions
Whitworth has won the National Christian College Forensics Association’s national tournament multiple times. Many Arguing Bucs have claimed a national championship in individual events or debate at this tournament.
Best-in-Region Awards
The Northwest Forensics Conference has recognized Whitworth as the top IPDA program in the region for four consecutive years. In 2015, Sarah Sauter ’15 won the Coaches’ Commemorative Award as the top speaker/debater in the NFC. In 2016, Micah Allred ’17 was recognized as the top debate speaker at the largest debate tournament in the NFC. In 2020, Courtney Iseman ’23 won the Iverson Award as the top new speaker/debater in the NFC.
FORENSICS COMPETITION OPPORTUNITIES INDIVIDUAL EVENTS
DEBATE
THE ETHICS BOWL
Whitworth forensics team members also compete in all 11 individual events in the following categories:
Whitworth participates in a newer form of intercollegiate debate. In the International Public Debate Association (IPDA), topics are announced before each round, and students have 30 minutes to prepare their arguments with the help of teammates, coaches and online resources. Students argue in a one-on-one format similar to the high school Lincoln-Douglas debate system.
The Ethics Bowl is a related program that provides students an opportunity for academic competition. Each fall, five students form a team that competes in Seattle at the Northwest Regional Ethics Bowl, where teams from colleges and universities throughout the Northwest vie to advance to the National Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, held each spring. Students prepare for the Ethics Bowl through courses at Whitworth and through examining 15 public policy cases generated by a national panel of professors and ethics practitioners. Whitworth consistently ranks among the top Ethics Bowl programs in the country. Whitworth was the first Christian college and the first liberal arts college to win the national bowl, and has done so three times in eight years.
» Limited Preparation tests students’ abilities to organize a speech in a short period of time. Students enter extemporaneous speaking or impromptu speaking categories, and they address current events and famous quotations, respectively. » Public Address requires students to research, write and deliver 10-minute speeches that present clear, well-reasoned arguments. Events include persuasive, informative and after-dinner speaking and communication analysis. » Oral Interpretation tests students’ abilities to use their voice to create and stir emotions in an audience, as well as their ability to make an argument. Students present selections of poetry, prose and plays that may be serious or humorous in nature.
The IPDA values humor, delivery skills and a breadth of knowledge, as well as sound argumentation and reasoning skills. Debate topics may be policybased, value-based or metaphorical. Each spring, Whitworth hosts the national champions of Ireland in a public-exhibition debate for the campus and Spokane community.
THE LIBERAL ARTS ADVANTAGE A Whitworth education is grounded in the liberal arts: the study of literature, languages, philosophy, history, math, psychology and science. At Whitworth, professors and students explore the interconnectedness of ideas and make new discoveries where academic disciplines intersect. Our students are well-equipped to excel in forensics, which requires the integration of knowledge from diverse fields such as politics, ethics, literature, science and economics. Forensics and Ethics Bowl students at Whitworth develop and strengthen their abilities to...
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Whitworth’s liberal arts education enables our student-debaters to draw quickly from a broad range of ideas they have already studied. Since our team members represent a variety of majors, from philosophy and theology to political science, English
» think critically and creatively;
and mathematics, teammates can
» communicate clearly and compellingly;
help each other better understand
» analyze complex issues from a variety of perspectives;
wide-ranging debate topics.
» ask questions that yield original insights; and » work as a team and manage time well.
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» synthesize diverse ideas and new information;
- Mike Ingram, Ph.D., Director of Forensics, Whitworth University
ABOUT THE COACH
SCHOLARSHIPS
Whitworth Professor of Communication Studies Mike Ingram competed in speech and debate in high school and college and went on to earn a Ph.D. in rhetoric and public address at Ohio University. Ingram coached forensics at Carson-Newman University (Tenn.) and Ohio University before coming to Whitworth in 1988. His teams have placed in the top five at national tournaments for the International Public Debate Association and the National Christian College Forensics Association, and they have placed in the top 20 at the National Forensics Association and the National Parliamentary Debate Association. Ingram has served in leadership roles in several forensics organizations in the Northwest Forensics Conference, the IPDA and the NCCFA. At Whitworth, he has chaired the communication studies department and has served a sevenyear appointment as associate provost for faculty development and scholarship. He has been recognized as the coach of the year by the NFC, NCCFA and IPDA.
Whitworth Forensics offers several talent awards to outstanding forensics students. The deadline to apply is March 1. Visit whitworth.edu/forensics.
CONTACT US For more information about Whitworth Forensics, the forensics talent awards and the Ethics Bowl, please visit whitworth. edu/forensics or contact the coach: Mike Ingram, Ph.D. Director of Forensics | Whitworth University 509.777.4428 | mingram@whitworth.edu