Published on February 19, 2020 by Sean Flynt  
Debate Emory
Samford's debaters earned team and individual honors

Samford’s debate team qualified for the National Debate Tournament during competition at the SEC qualifying tournament at Emory University Feb. 14-16.

The team of Sarah Emerson and Alyssa Gregory defeated teams from Emory, the University of Kentucky and the University of Miami to qualify. Emerson was also named seventh speaker at the tournament.

“The fact that we have a sophomore and a junior qualifying for nationals sets our program up strongly for the future,” said director of debate Ryan Galloway. “Most debaters spend their entire four-year career trying to qualify for the tournament just once, but our team did it before their senior year,” Galloway said.

Samford’s junior varsity team of Kiarra Broadnax and Max Willinger took second place for the region, with Willinger named second speaker and JV debater of the SEC region.

The National Debate Tournament will be held at James Madison University March 26-30.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.