This past weekend, Truman Debaters attended the second Public Forum Debate Tournament of the season, sponsored by Pi Kappa Delta. This style of debate has teams of two go head-to-head on a semester-long topic. Second-year Economics and Political Science major, Sawyer Partney, from Springfield, MO, and his debate partner, Eric Rotert, a second-year Criminal Justice major from Liberty, MO, had an outstanding showing this weekend. Partney and Rotert were the tournament champions, defeating the University of Missouri in the final round. Truman’s showing also placed them ahead of Simpson College, Butler University, and Otterbein College, among others. Partney and Rotert also finished 7th and 6th place, respectively, in speaker awards. Speaker awards are given to debate competitors for their exemplary performance abilities.
Assistant Director of Forensics, Lars Wagener, says, “This team is doing incredibly well for so early in the season. It is exciting to see the growth of our students in this new format.” Debaters are currently prepping for their next competition, the Illinois State University Redbird. The Individual Event Team will also take on Illinois at Bradley University’s Norton Invitational this coming weekend.