On September 20th and 21st, the Truman Forensics Union participated in its first debate tournament of the 2025-2026 season. The Washburn LD Warmup, hosted online by Washburn University. This year’s Lincoln Douglas Debate topic asks students to affirm or negate the resolution “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its military presence and/or scientific exploration in the Arctic or Antarctic.”
Truman Forensics had a wonderful showing at this season’s opener, qualifying 40% of the team for nationals. First-year novice team members Nevah Carter (Communication Disorders major from Wichita, KS), Tessa Kremer (Statistics major from Lebanon, MO), and Emmett Beeson (Business Administration major from Eureka, MO) all made elimination rounds, with Carter placing 2nd in the Novice division. Kremer and Beeson were a semifinalist and quarterfinalist, respectively. Carter was also 1st Speaker in the novice division, and Kremer was 5th Speaker. Speaker points are awarded to each debater for how well they performed when speaking in rounds, independent of the decision of who won or lost.
Returning competitors also performed outstandingly. Adli Jacobs (3rd year Political Science/Criminal Justice double major from St. Charles, MO) made it to quarterfinals, beating competitors from regional schools Washburn, Illinois College, and McKendree. Aiden Breesawitz (4th year Communication major from Bolivar, MO) competed in Varsity debate and was awarded 4th place speaker. While debaters may compete one-on-one, debate is truly a team sport. Assistant Director of Forensics, Lars Wagener, says “It’s the support and community on our team that makes success like this possible. Making an elimination round in debate qualifies a student for nationals. To have four debaters qualified this early is excellent.” This is just the start of an amazing season for the Truman Forensics Union.