Michigan State University Debate members Joanna Gusis and Stephen Lewis earned a first round at-large bid to the National Debate Tournament securing the team’s 29th consecutive qualification to the NDT.

Gusis, a statistics and political theory and constitutional democracy junior in the Honors College, and Lewis, a social relations and policy sophomore, automatically qualified to the national tournament after being designated as one of the top 16 teams in the country.

 

“First round applications are decided by a panel of coaches who rank the team’s based on their season-long record,” said Will Repko, MSU Debate head coach. “Being invited to the NDT with a first round at-large bid is recognition of how well Joanna and Stephen have done this year.”

In the regular season, Gusis and Lewis were semifinalists at a tournament hosted by Georgetown University and they placed third at the Kentucky Thoroughbred Round Robin – an invite-only tournament for seven of the top teams in the country. They were also in the Sweet 16 at tournaments hosted by Wake Forest, Harvard, the University of Kentucky and the University of Texas.

Other colleges that earned at-large bids include Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Emory University, Macalester College, Wake Forest University, the University of Kansas, California State University – Long Beach, the University of Kentucky, West Georgia University and Binghampton University.

 

“There was an amazing pool of applicants this year, so this is something the team is incredibly proud of. Everyone – debaters and coaches – have worked all year to make this possible,” said Jasmine Stidham, MSU Debate assistant coach.

Gusis and Lewis are the 25th team in MSU Debate history to receive a first round at-large bid to the NDT and this is the 29th year in a row the team has qualified to the NDT.

“MSU Debate has one of the longest qualification streaks of any public university to the NDT. Plus, we’re in great company at MSU with streaks qualifying to national tournaments,” said Repko referencing the MSU Men’s Basketball Team’s streak qualifying to the NCAA tournament.

Additional members of the MSU Debate Team will participate in the District 5 qualifying tournament this weekend and the NDT will be hosted by Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington the first weekend in April. MSU has a history of success at the National Debate Tournament having won the tournament three times.

This story originally appeared on the Honors College website.