Forensics Continues Streak of National Tournament Success

Students from Truman’s Forensic Union (speech and debate team) competed in the National Forensic Association championship tournament, April 18-21 in Ann Arbor, Mich., and finished second in team sweepstakes in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

This accomplishment marks the third consecutive year the Truman team has ranked in the top five nationally. Additionally, the team’s individual events competitors were ranked sixth in President’s Division III Sweepstakes (small school division) at the tournament.

Freshman Donnie Richardson reached the quarterfinals in the Lincoln-Douglas division. Seniors Myra Milam, Maddisen Ebert and Nicholas Gorman all reached the octofinals while senior John Carney reached double-octafinals. The team performed admirably in speaker awards as well, with Milam taking fourth, Gorman taking fifth, and Richardson taking sixth.

The Forensic Union has consistently remained one of the top performing speech and debate programs nationally for more than a decade, with multiple national championship finishes and top-10 placements in national sweepstakes. Students interested in joining the program should contact Kevin Minch, interim director of forensics at kminch@truman.edu, or Russell Luce, director of debate, at rluce@truman.edu.