by Alyssa Braver and Kaitlin Kinsella

ATHENS, OH — For the second time this year, The Lafayette Forensics Society traveled to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio for a national tournament. After a successful trip to the Pi Kappa Delta National Conference Tournament, the team headed back for the National Forensic Association’s National Championships. In order to attend this prestigious event, competitors in both speech and debate had to qualify at regular season tournaments.

The Lafayette Forensics Society has spent the year debating the topic “Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should increase its development of the Earth’s moon in one or more of the following areas: energy, minerals, and/or water.” A long season culminated in six preliminary rounds and five single-elimination debates to determine the national champion. This year five debaters attended: Ryan Monahan (‘15), Justin Horn (’15), Joseph Rothschild (’16), Alyssa Braver (’16), and Vanessa Milan (’16). Lafayette alumni Samuel Derrick (‘10) and Teevrat Garg (’10) also came back to help coach the team and act as judges. There were 84 debaters from 23 different schools competing in debate. The competition was fierce, but this did not stop Lafayette from having an amazing end to an amazing season.

Senior Justin Horn (’15), and Juniors Alyssa Braver (’16) and Vanessa Milan (’16) did not advance to elimination rounds, but they were an integral part of the team in terms of preparing their fellow teammates. Ryan Monahan (’15) and Joseph Rothschild (’16) advanced to the elimination rounds, which is an incredible achievement in itself as only 32 debaters advanced.   Monahan advanced as the tournament’s second seed, while Rothschild was the last debater to qualify in the thirty-second spot.

Monahan went undefeated during pre-elimination rounds and utilized the second seed to his advantage. He defeated Purdue’s Taylor Brewer in the round of 32, advancing to face Bailey Rung from Western Kentucky University in the round of 16. Victorious against Rung, Monahan advanced to the quarterfinals and debated Truman State University’s Dillon Laaker. Monahan advanced on a 3-0 decision, which set up a semifinal round against Western Kentucky’s Nefertiti Dukes.

As the thirty-second seed in the tournament, Joseph Rothschild was paired against the top seeded Emma Collins from Western Kentucky University. Like Monahan, Collins had been undefeated in the preliminary rounds and the senior was looking to finish a terrific senior season with a deep run at nationals. In a highly competitive round, Rothschild pulled off the upset on a 2-1 decision. This win gave Rothschild momentum and he rolled through Missouri State’s Pouya Parsian in the round of 16 to set up a quarterfinal matchup against high school rival, Tyler Prochazka. Tyler and Joseph were both high school debaters in Kansas and have debated many times in the last six or seven years. In an emotional round, Rothschild continued his roll into the semi-finals on another 2-1 decision. Cenrtral Michigan University’s Audrey Weber awaited.

At this point, with two debaters in semifinals, Lafayette knew they had locked up second place in the team portion of the event. Western Kentucky had already sealed first place on the strength of putting FIVE debaters into the top 16. This is a tremendous achievement for the team, and is the third time Lafayette has finished in second place of the team portion at Nationals.

In the semifinals, Ryan Monahan debated Western Kentucky’s Nefertiti Dukes. The two seniors are friendly rivals, and their semi-final round was one of the most anticipated debates of the year. The two have been two of the top debaters in the nation for the past two seasons. In a close round, Ryan lost to Nefertiti, who advanced to finals. However, Ryan did manage to secure the 4th place speaker award for the entire tournament. This was a fantastic end to his career, which included two appearances in the national semifinal round, a Lafayette record. His success in debate has served him well. Monahan is currently planning to attend University of Pennsylvania law school in the fall.

Joseph Rothschild debated Central Michigan University’s Audrey Weber in Semi-finals. In a unanimous 5-0 decision, Rothschild advanced to the final round, against Western Kentucky’s Nefertiti Dukes. Almost every debater and coach at the tournament attended the final round. A diverse seven-judge panel was assigned the task of deciding a national champion. It was an exciting, educational, and emotional time as both debaters began their speeches by thanking coaches and teammates. In one of the closest finals round that anyone can remember, Joseph Rothschild finished runner-up on a 4-3 decision awarded to Western Kentucky’s Nefertiti Dukes.

Lafayette Forensics Society has yet to win the national championship, but Rothschild’s success marks the second time Lafayette has advanced a debater to the final round and Monahan is the fifth Lafayette debater to finish in the top four at the  national tournament.  Despite not advancing to the elimination rounds, Senior Justin Horn has also finished his career as a debater at Lafayette College.  As a junior, Justin was part of the group of debaters that closed out the top four spots at the Pi Kappa Delta national tournament and participated in the elimination rounds at the NFA national championships, finishing tied for 17th.  Now that the team has returned, it is time to start preparing to do it all again next year with a new topic – bioethics.

In addition to having a strong showing in debate, Lafayette Forensics Society was represented by seniors Sharon Chen (’15) and Joe Arrieta (’15); juniors Cassidy Reller (’16), Alyssa Braver (’16), Vanessa Milan (’16), and Jen Bognar (’16); sophomore Kaitlin Kinsella (’17); and first-year Aaron Walker (’18) in the speech events. While the speech team did not secure any individual awards, the team was victorious in coming together and rallying behind one another. Lafayette competed in eight different individual events: rhetorical criticism, informative speaking, persuasive speaking, after dinner speaking, poetry interpretation, prose interpretation, extemporaneous speaking, and impromptu speaking. Teammates supported each other by watching rounds and practices. The entire team is close-knit despite the individual nature of the events. Members of the team should be proud of their accomplishments over the past year. In order to compete at NFA one must qualify for this tournament, which is not an easy task. Just competing at NFA is an accomplishment to be proud of. This year Lafayette was able to have each member of the speech team qualify in all of their events showing the strength and dedication of each member.

NFA is the last tournament of the year that Lafayette travels to together as a team. Seniors Sharon Chen, Joe Arrieta, Ryan Monhan, and Justin Horn will be greatly missed. These four seniors have been great leaders and role models for their teammates and have been integral for Lafayette’s success these past few years. Their experience with the Lafayette Forensics Society will be invaluable in whatever endeavors come next for each of them. We can’t wait to have them back to help judge and coach!

There is just one more tournament left. Sharon Chen (’15) qualified for the Interstate Oratorical Association’s national tournament. Taking place at Berry College in Georgia, the IOA tournament is the oldest oratorical competition in the nation. In addition to competing for top honors, Chen will have her speech published in the annual publication Winning Orations. Lafayette has a long tradition of qualifying students to the IOA tournament and Sharon will make the Lafayette Forensics Society proud!