Debaters Excel
The 2011-2012 Whitman parliamentary debate team
For the third consecutive year, Whitman’s Parliamentary Debate Team is the best in the nation.
For the entirety of the 2011-12 season that ended with the tournament, the Whitman debaters scored more total points and won more pairings than any other school in the nation, earning what the National Parliamentary Debate Association calls its “Sweepstakes” award.
Whitman team members John Henry Heckendorn ’12 and Miranda Morton ’13 each won individual awards.
The Policy team competed at the CEDA (Cross Examination Debate Association) National Championship in Norman, Okla., March 22-26. The senior team of Allison Humble ’12 and Alex Zendah ’12 made it to the tournament finals, finishing in second place out of 150 teams attending the tournament. They won seven debates and lost one, then won five in a row in the elimination rounds, only to lose to the hometown team, University of Oklahoma, on a 6-3 decision. Humble came in 20th place overall for individual speakers at the tournament.