Whig-Clio debate team places first in national tournament in Baltimore

The Princeton Debate Panel's 2002 National Championship trophy is just the most recent addition to the already cluttered shelves of Whig Hall.

In what Nick Pilchak '04, Princeton Debate Panel President, called, "the core of our recent accomplishments," the team won the championship at the University of Maryland in Baltimore in a decisive final round against New York University and was named team of the year for cumulative annual performances.

At nationals, Emily Garin '02 was named Speaker of the Year.

The panel was able to send five teams to the tournament, an impressive number in terms of both qualifying for participation and facilitating attendance. The University won twice as many tournaments this year as any other school, with 10 total tournament victories.

Princeton boasts eight nationally ranked speakers.

"At the end of another season, the Princeton Debate Panel has defended its place on top of the competitive world of college debate," Pilchak said.

Kyle Detwiler '05 said the debate club culture emphasizes passing down knowledge to novices.

"All upperclassmen are required to debate with an underclassman at least once a semester" he said.

This year, in addition to two juniors and three seniors, a freshman and two sophomores qualified for nationals.

Garin said out that, while other schools hold tryouts where students are cut, Princeton allows all interested students to participate. This helps students who might otherwise be cut develop into excellent debaters.

"The team is very close," said Sasha Rao '04. Detwiler said that, like any team, the Panel spends a large amount of time together, giving it a "family feel."

The panel held its annual Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Parliamentary Debate Tournament this March. More than 100 teams from universities across the country came for a weekend of eight rounds of debate, a party at the Quadrangle Club and elections for the debate league.

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The debate panel has 30 regular members, Pilchak said. The team competes each weekend from September to May at universities along the East coast.

In the Parliamentary style of debate, the proposing team selects its own topic to debate each match of each round. Topics are drawn from a wide range of fields and must propose a change in the status quo.

"We debate everything," he said, providing a long list including libertarianism, democracy, science fiction, drugs and television shows.

Also up for debate are historical cases, the ideal society and hypothetical cases, such as, if given the choice, whether one should choose to be male or female.

Topics change every round. Garin said, "You need to be well-rounded and think on your toes. Anything a well-rounded college student would know about is fair game."

Yoni Schneller '03 said, "It's a stimulating alternative to staying on campus every weekend." Also, he said he has become friends with "some of the more interesting people I've met on campus."

He added, "[It] is very conducive to meeting people at other schools."

Garin agreed. "I don't like the social scene at Princeton very much. Debate provides an opportunity to get away every weekend to a different environment," she said.

At the 2002 National Champion-ship banquet, Garin was proposed to by the second Speaker of the Year, a Yale student. She accepted.

The panel will hold a debate for prefrosh weekend Saturday. They also will be hosting Harvard University and traveling to Yale University this weekend for the prestigious Triangular Debate, a yearly tradition between the three Ivies.