International Competition (1936)

Truman has has a long-standing tradition of hosting international debate teams on campus. In the 1980s and 90s, a long list of international teams visited Truman. However, prior to that time the longest standing tradition involved visits from Oxford, Cambridge, and other British Universities. In this public debate, Truman (Northeast Missouri State Teacher's College) debaters met Oxford on the question "A written constition is a hinderance rather than a safeguard to social progress."

Gender Rivalries (1936)

This newspaper clipping is a window on a prior era in competitive forensics. Even into the 1960s and 1970s there were separate divisions in debate and public speaking events for men and women. In this clipping a male competitor is calling-out his male counterparts for their failure to perform to the level of their female counterparts.

Regents Debates (1936)

One of the oldest competitive traditions at the Teacher's College was the Regents Debate Award. Debaters competed for a $50 prize and debates were on an annual proposition of policy. In the 1880s the contest began as an oratory contest and the Regents awarded $20 and a gold medallion to the best orator. In 1923 the Regents contest became one for debaters. As of 1978 there were 26 women and 58 men listed as winners. References to the Regents awards disappear from Northeast/Truman history after the 1970s--probably because of the emergence of more contemporary forms of intercollegiate speech competition.

A Large Part of the Truman Family (1936)

In 2007, of the 1000-1500 or so students who will come to Truman in an average entering class, anywhere between 250-400 of those students have expressed some interest in forensics at Truman. This is NOT a new phenomenon. As this news clipping reveals, of the 659 students enrolled at Northeast in Jan 1936, 15-20% of the student body was engaged in forensics.

Hosting Harvard (1967)

Even into the 1950s and 1960s, intercollegiate tournaments in their modern form were still developing. This clipping as evidence of how long the tradition of hosted one-on-one debates continued into the second half of the 20th century. Ivy League teams were help-up as something comparable to international teams in the prestige brought when they visited a campus. Today, public Universities like Truman may hold as much, or more, credibility than Ivy League institutions when it comes to national reputation.

The Road to Recovery (1981)

Every team has its moments of infamy, and the team at Northeast was no exception. In 1979 members of the debate team faced allegations of stealing books from another college's library. The administration swiftly, and rightly, reacted and the team lost its coach and several of their top debaters. But tradition cannot be held-back, and within a year the team had recovered, reconstituted--in large part--as an individual events program. In time debate would return and a long tradition of full-service forensics (debate and individual events) recovered.

Top-Ranked CEDA Debaters (1990)

For many years in the 1980s and 90s, Truman gained national recognition in the Cross-Examination Debate Association. This clipping documents their ascendancy in CEDA national sweepstakes rankings. By 1995, however, the team was moving toward its eventual transition from CEDA to NPDA (parliamentary debate).

Winning Debate State Championships (1980s and 1990s)

A long list of of teams from Northeast and Truman captured Missouri State Championships in the period of the 1980s and 90s, winning championships in CEDA/NDT debate, Parliamentary Debate, and NFA Lincoln-Doulgas Debate. By 1999 the policy debate division at the Missouri Association of Forensic Activities championships had disappeared, leaving NPDA and LD formats behind. Truman held a near decade-long streak in debate state championships in Missouri during this period.

Winning Forensics State Championships (1997)

While the state association in forensics (MAFA) has been around in one form or another for decades, Truman has seen a rebirth of success at the tournament in the last two decades, with numerous state championships and hundreds of individual awards. The clipping to the left dates to approximately 1997 or 1998.

Debating the Russians (1997)

Truman's tradition of international competition re-emerged in the 1990s with several international teams visiting the campus. Teams from Russia, Japan, Great Britain, and Ireland all visited Truman on tours of the United States during this period.

Debate National Championships (2000)

While Truman had previously captured national titles in individual events, the 2000 NPDA Championship marked new milestones for Truman. Ryan Kennedy and Jacob Stutzman captured the team's first national debate championship with the first unanimous decision in NPDA history. The squad also captured the National Sweepstakes Championship the same year. The two debaters were only Juniors at the time and it was only Truman's second year attending the NPDA tournament.

The Key to the City (2000)

In recognition of its National Championship, debaters from Truman's Forensic Union received the Key to the City from Kirksville a few weeks after the championship and declared Truman State University Forensics and Debate Day.

5th at Individual Events Nationals (2003)

National success returned to the individual events component of the program in 2003 when the team reached fifth in national sweepstakes at the National Forensic Association national tournament at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. It was the peak of the IE squad's performance over a period where the program remained consistently in the top-ten of its school division in national individual events tournament sweepstakes.

National Debate Championship Returns (2004)

In 2004 Truman captured another NPDA Championship, also on a unanimous decision. This made Truman the only school in the history of the NPDA to win the title on a unanimous decision twice. The picture at left depicts the presentation of a framed resolution from the Truman Board of Governors in recognition of the accomplishment.

Pi Kappa Delta Nationals (2007)

After a lengthy hiatus from the Pi Kappa Delta National Championship and Convention, Truman returned to the tournament in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, in March 2007. The squad captured a National Championship when Stefani Wittenauer took home the top superior award in Broadcast Journalism. In April she received a resolution of recognition from Truman's Board of Governors. The overall squad took 3rd in combined sweepstakes at the tournament.