wscc wins big in debate

Walters State Community College’s Debate Team retuned from the Front Porch Tournament with a slew of awards, including the Sweepstakes Award as the best overall team. All three teams representing the college at the tournament won awards and several students received individual awards.
    “We only took three teams and all three won awards,” said Marci Nimick, instructor of speech and coach of the debate team. The tournament was held at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City.
    Matt Livingston of Bean Station received first place among individual speakers. Bronson Mills of Morristown placed second and Rick Testerman of Newport, fifth. Livingston and Mills as a team made it to the tournament’s semi-finals. Testerman and Bridgette Buchanan of Morristown and Cheri Tinney of Bean Station, who was paired with MTSU student Drew Dunlop, made it to the quarter-finals.
    “This is our best overall performance at a major tournament in recent memory,” said Malcolm McAvoy, head of the speech communications department.
“It is always challenging for us to compete against four-year colleges and universities. Marci has increased both the size and the competitiveness of our debate and speech program. We plan to work more with area high school programs in the future,” McAvoy said.
In February, the college will host the Tennessee State Debate and Speech Tournament. Teams from two-year and four-year colleges across the state will be on campus for the event.