The Fulton Debating Society novice debate team, consisting of Michael Stork, A&S '11, and Kevin Walton, A&S '11, won the novice division of the Liberty Debate Tournament on Nov. 4 in Lynchburg, Va. Their victory came after a strong 6-0 tournament start during which they had won unanimously in all rounds except one. The debate team not only won the tournament, but another two person team, Kelsey Muraoka, A&S '11, and Claire Ruffing, A&S '11, made it to the top eight, losing to Emory University.
On top of this victory for the Fulton Debating Society of Boston College, Stork won recognition of top speaker of the tournament while Walton won the fourth best speaker. Ruffing said in an e-mail, "They work really hard in and out of practice to prepare and know the material, and both are bright, engaging speakers." The top speaker is awarded to the debater who garners the most speaker points - awarded on basic presentation in each round - during the tournament. Ruffing added, "Both Kevin and Mike address specific points, are easy to follow as they go through the arguments, and understand what the opposing team is up to, so they can oftentimes nip it in the bud."
The novice teams are doing well this year overall, Walton said. Walton's two-man team is 12-5, demonstrating a winning percentage of 70 percent. Both Walton and Stork are in their first year on the BC debate team; neither had debated in high school.
"It was around 2 [a.m.] one morning and I was on the BC Web site. I looked at the Fulton Debating Society Web page and the next thing I knew, I'm on the team," Walton said. His description clearly demonstrates that the society is open to all those who want to debate and are willing to work hard to achieve success.
The Fulton Debating Society was formally founded in 1890, making it one of the oldest and most prestigious co-curricular activities at BC. This season's topic centers on the United States' advocacy of increased constructive agreements with Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian authority, or Syria by offering security agreements or an increase in foreign assistance.
"We should offer to constructively engage Iran by offering them a security guarantee if they agree to open an embassy in Iran and negotiate," said John Kastulas, the head debate coach of the Fulton Society, when asked about which affirmative position the Fulton Debating Society would be taking this year.
"Our coaches provide a lot of evidence [and] are very funny," Walton said. "The coaches are a very large part of the team's success."
Stork and Walton plan to continue their success at upcoming tournaments at the University of Rochester and John Carroll University. "Achieving the level of success we had at Liberty was satisfying and gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the year," Stork said. "But we still need to stay focused on improving ourselves at every tournament." They also plan to attend the National Debate Tournament at the end of the year that will have the championship for the novice division.
2008 Woodie Awards
