Prepare. Listen. Argue.
The Cornell University Speech and Debate team hosted its annual “Tournament of Love” Feb. 15-16. The tournament housed two sub-tournaments: the U.S. Novice National Championships and the Cornell Inter-Varsity Worlds tournaments. The “novice” tournament was limited to participants in their first two semesters of collegiate debate. The Inter-Varsity competition was open to debaters with more than two semesters of debate experience.
While debaters competing in English roamed Ives Hall, the National Championship for Spanish Language Debate Tournament was taking place just a few buildings over in Rockefeller Hall. Although the atmospheres in Ives and Rockefeller were similar, the stakes for this tournament were higher given that the winners would advance to the CMUDE (World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish – Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español). The tournament was “the most competitive Spanish ‘Worlds’ tournament in North America with half of the universities that made it to last year’s grand finals” according to Victor Rosas ‘22, coach of the Cornell Spanish Language Debate Team.
Altogether, the tournaments hosted over 200 college debaters from 23 schools and five countries. The magnitude of the tournaments became clear as the 300-plus people competing and coordinating caused a roaring sensation in the hallways of Ives, Rockefeller, Uris and Goldwin Smith Halls.
“Worlds” style is a form of debate based on British parliamentary debate, in which four teams of two make arguments either supporting or negating a proposed statement referred to as a “motion.” An interesting motion given during the tournaments was: “This House regrets the narrative that climate justice can be achieved while maintaining sustained economic growth (e.g. Green New Deal).” After that, debaters gathered with their teammates to whisper strategy for 15 minutes before beginning the debate round.
Both the English and Spanish debaters demonstrated the equal importance of attentive listening and articulate oration involved in debating as some were debating in non-native languages, with different accents and tonal inflections. Debaters also spoke at varying speeds, making it more difficult for the opposing teams to jot notes.
Understanding the arguments was not the only challenge. All debaters had to decide whether to spend all of their seven speaking minutes advancing their points of view or sacrifice time, giving their opponents a chance to pose a question potentially fatal or constructive to their argument. This dilemma was alleviated by the jazzhands-like motion used by their teammates to express agreement with arguments.
The tournaments proved that the tense passion of disagreement could peacefully coexist with the camaraderie of a shared interest. During rounds, debaters faced a time limit, three opposing teams, occasional whispers, quick rebuttals and, sometimes, unforeseeable questions. Between rounds, however, the hallways buzzed with laughter and hugging, particularly during lunch breaks.
The ILR School houses the Cornell Speech and Debate team, led by Samuel Mayer Nelson, senior lecturer and director of the Cornell Speech and Debate Program. ILR’s presence was further felt throughout the weekend as the majority of debates occurred in Ives Hall, the English Cornell teams were coached by current M.I.L.R. candidate Johanna Richter, and the Spanish Cornell teams were coached by Victor Rosas ’22.
The Cornell Spanish delegation set the record for the best performance by a U.S. team a few years ago—reaching the semifinal round of the World Spanish Debate Championships. The team has won both the Rochester and Princeton Debate tournaments. Coach Rosas said he is “confident that we can set another record this summer.”
This weekend, the public is invited to a Cornell Speech-sponsored tournament in 217 Ives Hall. More than 100 students from across the country will compete in 11 events. Final rounds begin at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.