The Michigan State University Debate Team finished in the final four of the Franklin R. Shirley Classic, a tournament held at Wake Forest University that included 146 teams from across the country.
Honors College and international relations senior Tyler Thur and mathematics senior Margaret Strong made it to the semifinals after defeating pairs from California State University-Fullerton, the University of Kansas and the University of California-Berkeley. The MSU team lost the semifinals round to a team from the University of Michigan.
Thur finished 10th overall in individual speaker awards and Strong finished 17th.
Also competing for MSU were the teams of Honors College and computer science sophomore Connor Munsinger and international relations freshman Luc Walkington; political science junior Darcell Brown and Honors College physics freshman Evan Runburg.
The season’s debate topic is United States military presence abroad. The Shirley Classic is the last tournament of the fall semester. The MSU Debate Team will compete in two tournaments in early January.
“I’m proud that the MSU Debate Team continues to be a contender for the national championship. Last month, we were ranked No. 5 in the country,” said Head Coach Will Repko. “Heading into the middle of the season, we’ve had some really strong performances from this group of students and I look forward to them continue to do better at the tournaments we have ahead of us.”
The MSU Debate Team is a part of the Honors College.