Macken Debate & Speech Team grab first and second place and speaker award at Golden Gate Opener Tournament in “rebuilding year”

Forensics team coach Andrea Brown says, “They’re all kind of amazing!”

In what was supposed to be a “rebuilding year” for the Saint Mary’s College of California (SMC) Macken Debate & Speech Team, the largely novice team made it into the final rounds while competing against 22 other teams from institutions such as: San Francisco State University; University of the Pacific; Diablo Valley College; Chico State University; California State University Fullerton; El Paso Community College; Fresno State University; Sacramento State University; San Jose State University; Santa Rosa Junior College; University of California, Berkeley; University of Nevada, Reno; and the University of San Francisco.

SMC first-year students Ava Peters (Anthropology) and Emma Owen (Undeclared) competed in Parliamentary Debate at the Novice level in their first forensics tournament, with Emma joining the team just three days before heading across the Bay to compete in San Francisco. Ava said “It was cool to actually experience a tournament…I’m excited to continue!”

Sophomore Molly Floberg (English and Creative Writing) and first-year student Rose Velasquez (Political Science) competed at the Open (i.e., non-Novice) level of Parliamentary Debate, narrowly missing moving forward into the semi-finals by one loss.

Sophomore Adrian Lossada (Counseling and Psychology) and first-year student Gavin Hussain (Undeclared) made it into the final round of Open level Parliamentary Debate, before ultimately taking second place.

First-year student Jasper Pacheco (Integral and Philosophy) and junior Sam Goodman (Political Science) made it into the semi-final, then final, round of Novice Parliamentary Debate, only losing one round the entire day, before prevailing against the same team in the final round, to take first place in the division.  Jasper also earned the second-place speaker award for the entire Novice division of Parliamentary Debate.

Beyond debate, Molly Floberg also competed as a Novice in the Prose Oral Interpretation event, sharing a piece that discusses autism as a sometimes “hidden” disability and the problematic aspects of assuming “neurotypicality” of everyone. She finished as a finalist, taking sixth place overall.

The Macken Debate and Speech Team is open to any SMC interested student. The coaching staff and other team members help develop each speaker and prepare them for tournament competition and increased critical thinking ability. The SMC campus has had a team for decades, and looks to carry on that tradition.  For more information, please contact coach Andrea Brown at (925) 631-4250, come by the office, Garaventa Hall 220, or email alb11@stmarys-ca.edu. Go Gaels!