The Michigan State University Debate Team won the Kentucky Round Robin – an elite event in which only nine of the top teams in the country compete.
Honors College and international relations senior Tyler Thur and mathematics senior Margaret Strong went 7-1 in their debates, defeating teams from the University of Michigan, Harvard University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Kansas, Trinity University, Emory University and the University of Texas-Dallas.
The two also competed in the larger University of Kentucky tournament, finishing in the top eight out of 92 teams. In individual speaker awards, Thur took second place and Strong took ninth place.
Honors College and computer science sophomore Connor Munsinger and international relations freshman Luc Walkington also finished in the top 32 of the tournament. The season’s debate topic is U.S. military presence abroad.
“The Kentucky Round Robin invites the most-skilled college debaters,” said Head Coach Will Repko. “It’s fantastic to see Marge and Tyler doing so well early in the season.”
Overall, five MSU teams competed in the Kentucky tournament, including: professional writing sophomore Breana Brill and her teammate, economics and political science sophomore Wayne Campbell; elementary education senior Shannon Nierman, and her teammate, undecided James Madison College first-year Eric Staats; and Honors College and international relations and economics freshman Jake Wier and his teammate, political science freshman Travis McClendon.
The MSU Debate Team, part of the Honors College, will compete in its next tournament Oct. 16-18 at Vanderbilt University.