Debate team finds success on national stage
The St. Olaf Debate Team recently found success in the national arena, placing in the top three at both the 2013 Pi Kappa Delta Nationals (PKD) tournament and the national Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (IEB).
Kevin George ’13 and Alex Everhart ’15, representing St. Olaf’s parliamentary debate team, placed second out of 41 teams at the PKD Nationals tournament, hosted by Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. The team’s success followed their first-place win in parliamentary debate at this year’s state championships.
Thomas Hegland ’13 and Elizabeth Lemke ’13, representing a subsidiary program of the St. Olaf debate team, took third place in the IEB competition. The competition focused on selected cases developed by Association of Practical and Professional Ethics faculty, researchers, and professionals, and covered a wide range of disciplines.
“Our Great Conversation background truly facilitated our performance,” Hegland says. “We did our best to represent St. Olaf and ultimately had many students and coaches from other universities come up to ask us about our arguments and inquire about our college.”