Rice Speech and Debate: Rice Ranked Number One in the Nation!

Rice Speech and Debate had a very successful month in November! The team represented Rice in multiple virtual events, finished the month at the top of the national rankings, and with multiple events qualified for the AFA-National Speech Tournament.

Rice is currently ranked 1^st in the nation in debate National Parliamentary Debate Association season sweepstakes. This is a squad ranking that measures overall team performance.

Rice also has three of the top ten debate teams (pairs) in the nation, including the number one team, according to the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence rankings. This is a measure of the records of individual debate pairs within squads:

Annie Chen and Maddy Scannell are currently the top team in the nation!

Amy Lin and Joel Abraham are ranked 3^rd in the nation!

Krithika Shamanna and Jacob Tate are ranked 9^th in the nation!

Tournament results:

McKendree University Tournament Bearcat Classic, 11/14-15/2020

This competitive virtual debate event featured 22 teams from 9 colleges and universities. Rice debaters “closed out” the final round, leaving only Rice teams left in the top two spots in the tournament! Rice won 7 awards.

Sweepstakes: 1^st Place Overall

Annie Chen and Maddy Scannell:

Tie for 1^st Place, Varsity Debate with Lin/Abraham

Amy Lin and Joel Abraham:

Tie for 1^st Place, Varsity Debate with Chen/Scannell

Kia Witt and Max Renteria: Quarterfinalists, Varsity Debate

Rice won the top 3 of 4 spots and closed out finals!  Krithika Shamanna/Jacob Tate and Amy Lin/ Joel Abraham closed out one semifinal bracket. Lin and Abraham advanced to the final based on record. Annie Chen and Maddy Scannell won the other semifinal bracket, creating the close-out.

Speaker Awards:

Amy Lin: 2^nd Overall Speaker
Joel Abraham: 6^th Overall Speaker
Maddy Scannell: 9^th Overall Speaker

Overall Rice won 24 debates

Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association Fall Championship, 11/7-8/2020

There were 277 speech entries from 20 colleges and universities in this two-tournament event that focuses on Texas’ outstanding forensics programs. With the results of this event, Rice speech competitors qualified or gained substantial points toward qualification for multiple events for the national tournament. Rice brought home 10 awards from this traditionally challenging event.

First tournament:

6^th Place Sweepstakes

Lauren Palladino:

1^st Place Impromptu Speaking

2^nd Place Persuasive Speaking

Taylor Gilliam:

1^st Place Programmed Oral Interpretation

Taylor Gilliam and Tiffany Sloan:

4^th Place Duo Interpretation

Second Tournament:

3^rd Place Sweepstakes

Lauren Palladino:

1^st Place Persuasive Speaking

Tiffany Sloan:

1^st Place Poetry Interpretation

Taylor Gilliam and Tiffany Sloan:

3^rd Place Duo Interpretation

Mehek Jain:

4^th Place Extemporaneous Speaking

These students have logged many hours of preparation for these intense competitions and have worked hard to adapt to the virtual environment. Their effort is truly exemplary of the Rice spirit. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding academic competitors!

Rice Speech and Debate is coached by David Worth and Shannon LaBove. For more information, please visit https://humanities.rice.edu/speech-and-debate .