Lafayette Forensics Society will have a table at the 2014 Involvement Fair. The Fair will be on the quad, September 3rd from 3pm until 7pm. Stop by and meet various members of the team and find out more about how you can be involved in the Lafayette Forensics Society.
If you can’t stop by and want to be involved, come to Simon G6 and say “hi!”
Lafayette’s campus was at its liveliest this weekend with the Inauguration of the new president, the Homecoming football game, and theLafayette College (Ocho) Debate Tournament. Teams representing universities from across the country travelled to Lafayette to compete in the two four-round tournaments.
The Ocho was the first tournament in which the entire Lafayette team competed including four novice debaters. Following preliminary rounds, eight debaters advanced to the quarterfinal rounds, including Lafayette’s Zoe Staum ‘14. Advancing to quarterfinals also qualified Zoe for NFA’s National Tournament in the spring.
At the closing of the first day of competition, Emma Collins (Western Kentucky University) finished 1st Place in Open Debate after winning the final round. Lafayette’s Ryan Monahan ‘15 earned 5th Place Speaker.
Four Lafayette debaters competed in the Novice Division of their very first tournament. Rachel Elias ‘17 advanced to the finals, qualifying her for NFA’s National Tournament. She earned 2nd Place in the Novice Division.
The second day of the tournament consisted of four more preliminary rounds of debate, and top debaters broke into quarterfinals. Zoe Staum, again, earned a spot in the quarterfinals. The Open Division was closed out on the second day by Western Kentucky University debaters. Zoe also earned a 2nd Place Speaker Award on Sunday. Another Lafayette novice debater, Raman Hundal ‘17, broke into the final round of the Novice Division on Sunday afternoon, earning him a qualification for the NFA National Tournament as well. He earned 2nd Place in the Novice Division.
After a long and busy weekend, the debaters will now prepare for the upcoming tournament on October 20th and 21st at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Full Results:
Zoe Staum – Quarterfinalist in Open Debate on Saturday, Quarterfinalist in Open Debate on Sunday, 2nd Place Speaker on Sunday
Ryan Monahan – 5th Place Speaker on Saturday
Rachel Elias – 2nd Place in Novice Debate on Saturday
Raman Hundal – 2nd Place in Novice Debate on Sunday
–Vanessa Milan ’16
This past weekend, Lafayette College dispatched an intrepid trio of Forensics foot soldiers to Liberty University in the cold, black heart of Virginia. Under the adept command of Supreme General Henry Scott Placke, sophomores Cassidy Reller & Luke Wasacz, and freshman Sadie Lebow boldly charged into battle, crossing swords with able competition from over a dozen well-equipped aggressor institutions such as George Mason University, Cedar Crest College, Bowling Green State University, James Madison University, and a plethora of other enemy units.
By the tournament’s close, the Lafayette triumvirs struck sheer visceral terror into the souls of those lesser folk unfortunate enough to engage them in oratory combat. Through their dashing looks and unparalleled rhetorical prowess, the noble Lafayette squadron fought its way to fifth place overall despite being vastly outnumbered. Just as the miniscule Spartan regiment held off the Persian hordes at the epic battle of Thermopylae, Reller, Wasacz, and Lebow rattled their sabers and vaulted Lafayette College to eternal glory. Cassidy Reller, compatriot and former protégé of the legendary and godlike speaker Lord Ryan R. Raesly, fought with honor and inspirational tenacity, garnering fifth and sixth place in the turbulent and highly competitive arenas of Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu Speaking, respectively. Freshman Sadie Lebow, eager to earn her stripes, rocketed to fourth place in Extemporaneous Speaking, thereby affirming her place as a force with which to be reckoned for years to come. Both Reller and Lebow were successful in earning their hard-fought qualifications for the National Forensics Tournament in April.
With such a rousing display of force early in the season, the Lafayette College Speech Team shall assuredly perpetuate its legacy of total forensics annihilation in the bloody months to come. EDITOR’S NOTE: Next, the team travels to West Chester University on October 12th and 13th.
–Lord Ryan R. Raesly ’15
Three members of the Lafayette Debate Team, Zoe Staum ‘14, Justin Horn ‘15, and Ryan Monahan ’15, travelled to Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky. this past weekend for the first tournament of the year. Western Kentucky University is the reigning national champion in NFA-LD Debate.
Zoe and Ryan competed in the invitation-only Alumni Round Robin tournament on Friday. The Round Robin pitted 8 of the best returning debaters in the country against each other, separated into two pods of four debaters. After three preliminary rounds, both teammates advanced as the second best debater in their respective pods. Zoe and Ryan both won their semifinal round and this guaranteed an all-Lafayette final round in the first invitation-only round robin held since 2006. The final round was an exhibition in front of an audience of competitors, coaches and judges.
The following day, all three members of the team competed in the two-day Western Kentucky Fall Fiesta. Zoe, Justin and Ryan competed in preliminary rounds on Saturday. On Sunday morning, the elimination rounds began with quarterfinals. Ryan advanced through to the semifinals on a 3-0 decision against a debater from Marshall University. In the semifinals, Ryan defeated a debater from Hillsdale College, also on a 3-0 decision, securing a spot in the final round of the tournament against Western Kentucky debater Emma Collins. Ryan won the final round on a 3-0 decision, capping a successful weekend with a second championship.
The debate team will now prepare for their next tournament to be held at Lafayette on October 5th-6th.
The Lafayette College Debate Team travels to and competes in regional and national competitions over the course of the academic year. The team debates with a year-long topic. This year the topic is, Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should substantially reform elementary and/or secondary education in the United States.
Full Results:
Zoe Staum – 2nd Place in the Alumni Round Robin and 2nd Place Speaker in the Alumni Round Robin
Ryan Monahan – 1st Place in the Alumni Round Robin, 3rd Place Speaker in the Alumni Round Robin, 1st Place in the Western Kentucky Fiesta, and 4th Place Speaker at the Western Kentucky Fiesta
If you are interested in joining the Lafayette Speech and Debate team, the first information session will be in Simon Center 124 at 4:30pm on Thursday, August 29th.
If you have questions or cannot attend, you can contact the team president, Ryan Monahan, at monahanr@lafayette.edu
We hope to see you this week!
The Lafayette Forensics Society travelled to West Chester University this weekend for the 2012-2013 Pennsylvania Forensics Association state tournament.
Six students travelled to the tournament and all six contributed to a strong effort that saw the team finish in third place.
Senior Angela Wnek led the way by continuing her strong season with final round appearances in ALL FIVE of her events: After Dinner Speaking, Persuasion, Impromptu, Poetry Interpretation and Prose Interpretation. Sophomore Sharon Chen was named state champion in Rhetorical Criticism and also made the final in Informative Speaking. Sophomore Ryan Raesly was crowned state champion in Extemporaneous Speaking and made the final round in Impromptu as well. Finally, first-year competitor Luke Wasacz was named state champion in Prose Interpretation in his first ever trip to the state tournament! First-year Cassidy Reller and sophomore Daniela Filip also received awards in Extemporaneous and Rhetorical Criticism respectively.
Despite such a small group of students, the team still managed to finish in third place behind champions West Chester University and St. Joseph’s University.
The tournament is an important step in Lafayette Forensics Society’s preparation for the upcoming National Tournament. The debate team travels to Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio on March 2nd. Cassidy Reller and Luke Wasacz now must prepare for the Novice National Tournament at Berry College in early March.
Full Results:
Angela Wnek – 4th place After Dinner Speaking, 4th place Persuasion, 6th place Impromptu, 3rd place Poetry, 2nd place Prose, 6th in Pentathalon
Sharon Chen – 1st place Rhetorical Criticism, 5th place Informative
Ryan Raesly – 1st place Extemporaneous Speaking, 4th place Impromptu
Luke Wasacz – 1st place Prose Interpretation
Cassidy Reller – 2nd place Extemporaneous Speaking
Daniela Filip – 7th place Rhetorical Criticism
Lafayette Forensics Society – 3rd place Team Sweepstakes
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to a communications typo, the team previously announced that it had won four state championships, when in fact we only won three. Sharon Chen did not win Informative, she finished fifth. Three or four championships, the team still had an excellent weekend and is poised for greater success as the season continues!
http://news.lafayette.edu/2012/08/27/shannon-dehont-10-and-sam-derrick-10-named-to-pitt-law-review/
Congratulations, Sam!
The Lafayette Forensics Society has returned from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio – the site of the National Forensics Association’s annual National Tournament. 13 students attended the tournament, which consisted of teams from around the nation to participate in 10 different speech events and NFA-LD policy-style debate.
Sophomore, Zoe Staum qualified for the elimination rounds in NFA-LD debate with a 5-1 record. In the first elimination round, she defeated Central Michigan’s Amy Hinchey on a 3-0 decision which advanced her to the round of 16. Unfortunately, Zoe lost a close round on a 2-1 decision to Alexis Elliott from Western Kentucky University. However, as a sophomore, we expect great things from her in the next few years! Zoe was joined by six of her teammates at the national tournament and each played an instrumental role in hers and the team’s success.
Seven different students also participated in the 10 different speech events at the National Tournament. Despite no individual successes, the team can be proud of finishing in 9th place in Division III at the National Tournament. The finish continues a proud tradition of top 10 finishes for the Lafayette Forensics Society.
The team is excited to come back next year and continue to build upon the successes of the 2011-2012 season! Stay tuned for more updates next fall and have a great summer!
This weekend the Lafayette Forensics Society divided and conquered with Ryan Monahan and Joshua Geesey attending The North East Regional Tournament at Suffolk University and the rest of the team attending The Pennsylvania State Tournament hosted by Cedar Crest College.
At the Pennsylvania State Tournament in Allentown team grabbed three state championship titles, three state finalist medals and one entry into the prestigious Interstate Oratorical Competition. The combined efforts of the attendees won the team the fourth place title in overall team sweeps. Veteran competitor Angela Wnek claimed three individual state championships. Wnek is now the Pennsylvania State Champion in Dramatic Interpretation, Poetry and Persuasion. Her win in Persuasion qualifies her to attend the 143rd Interstate Oratorical Association Competition, continuing Lafayette’s long tradition of qualifying a student to the contest. This year the event will take place in Boston, Massachusetts where Wnek will compete against two qualifiers from all participating states. Wnek also placed 5th in individual sweeps, an award indicating her overall success at the tournament. Ryan Raesly took one of our three finalist medals, finishing 6th in the state for Extemporaneous Speaking. Ashli Austin took another with 2nd place in Dramatic Interpretation, and Sharon Chen finished 5th place in Persuasion. First-year competitors Daniela Filip, Peter Berexa, Marybeth O’Connor and Tristan Thompson also attended the tournament.
At North East Regionals in Boston, Massachusetts the team found success with Ryan Monahan, advancing to semifinals with 4-0 preliminary record. He was unfortunately defeated by Katie Muzzy from St. Anselm College on a two-one decision in semifinals but managed to win second place speaker. Joshua Geesey also attended the tournament and had a strong performance. He ended the day with a 2-2 prelim record.
Congratulations are in order! The momentum has certainly been built for the upcoming Novice National Tournament hosted by Lafayette College, March 10th – 12th.
Lafayette Forensics Society wishes you a Happy Holidays in this holiday season!
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