Forensics placed third in Division I of the National Forensic Association National Championship Tournament, April 16-20, at Tennessee State University in Nashville.
The tournament is the largest intercollegiate forensics championship, spanning 11 different individual speaking categories and Lincoln-Douglas Debate. A record number of entries from 70 colleges and universities from across the United States were represented. Across all categories, Truman was ranked 13th overall, without regard to school or entry size. Rankings consider the performances of every student on a team. This ranking put Truman ahead of universities such as multiple campuses of the Cal-State system, Arizona State, Rice, UC-Berkeley, Northwestern and Hofstra, as well as all other participating Missouri institutions.
In individual events competition, Alex Peterson, fourth-year criminal justice studies and social issue advocacy major, was a semifinalist in Impromptu Speaking, while Emery McEvoy, second-year accounting major, was a semifinalist in Extemporaneous Speaking. Jessie Philips, fourth-year political science and international relations major, was a quarterfinalist in Poetry Interpretation. In Duo Interpretation, Philips and her partner, Briggs Maynor, fourth-year chemistry major, were quarterfinalists. Annie Nguyen, first-year political science and international relations and environmental science major, was a quarterfinalist in Persuasive Speaking. The team also had six placements in the octafinals of the tournament. These included Maynor and Philips in After Dinner Speaking, Willow Adamson, first-year psychology major, in Poetry Interpretation, Jack Unsell, first-year political science and international relations and environmental science major, in Impromptu Speaking, Nguyen in Informative Speaking and Peterson in Persuasive Speaking. In Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Ryan Franklin, second-year mathematics major, reached the double-octafinals. All 21 students contributed points to the overall result of the team.
In addition to these accolades, Robert Layne II (’02), a Truman communication graduate, was inducted into the National Forensic Association Hall of Fame for his competitive success and application of skills learned in forensics to public service. Layne was a member of the national championship debate team in 2000 and reached several elimination rounds at both the National Parliamentary Debate Association and National Forensic Association National Championships. Layne serves in a senior communications leadership position for the City of Salem, Oregon. This is Truman’s second alumnus to join the Hall of Fame.
“Our success at NFA this year was indicative of our students’ hard work and commitment to the team throughout the season,” said Ben Davis, director of forensics. “Each person on our squad played a hand in reaching our team goal this year of breaking into the Top 15 at NFA. Their support for each other is inspirational and the coaches are thrilled to see such fire beneath the team right now as we end our season and start preparing for another great year next season.”
This concludes the competitive season for Forensics. The team will begin competition for the 2026-27 season in September.
Making it to the national final round of their respective events, first-year Political Science & International Relations and Environmental Science double major, Annie Nguyen, placed 5th and received the top novice award in Communication Analysis. Fourth-year Criminal Justice and Social Issue Advocacy double major Alex Peterson was 3rd in Impromptu Speaking. Multiple students made it to the semifinal round (top 12) of competition, including the Duo Interpretation team of fourth-year Chemistry major Briggs Maynor and fourth-year Political Science major Jessie Philips. Jack Unsell, a first-year Political Science and Environmental Science double major, was a semifinalist in both Extemporaneous and Impromptu Speaking. Peterson also reached the semifinals of Persuasive Speaking. 
Nguyen was also a quarterfinalist (top 24) in Informative and Persuasive speaking. She was joined in the Persuasive quarterfinal by second-year Biology major Lauren Weiss. In Extemporaneous Speaking, second-year History major Jack Schroeder and second-year Economics and Political Science major Sawyer Partney were quarterfinalists. Maynor and Peterson were quarterfinalists in Duo Interpretation, with Maynor also bringing home a quarterfinalist placement in Poetry Interpretation.
Though not at a national championship, the team’s debaters competed this past weekend at the I-70 Cup, a synchronous online tournament. Second-year math major Ryan Franklin was a semifinalist, outperforming debaters from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, UNLV, Purdue, and Florida State, among others. Franklin was also ranked 7th speaker in the tournament. First-year Political Science and International Relations major Ammishav McHugh was 8th place speaker, while first-year Business Administration major Emmett Beeson was 12th.