There’s No Argument—Saint Mary’s Has the Number One-Ranked Parliamentary Debate Team in the Country

A drumroll arose from the crowd, and Jasper Pacheco ’27 and Adrian Lossada ’26 anxiously joined in, awaiting the results with bated breath. When they arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 27 for the National Tournament of the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA), Pacheco and Lossada were ranked third in the country as a parliamentary debate duo. Now, after days of arguing propositions and oppositions, going head-to-head with other top-ranked teams, the tournament was finished. The nation’s number one team was set to be announced.

As the judges began to speak, the room stilled. Calling the final debate “neck and neck,” the judge announced a 4-3 vote in favor of the champions, Saint Mary’s own Pacheco and Lossada. The pair exploded in celebration. Cheers rang out as they approached the podium to accept their trophy.

Winning the NPDA tournament was no easy task for these two Gaels. For one thing, they had to best the most dominant teams in the country, including their longtime rival, the University of California, Berkeley. Even more impressive: Unlike most of their competitors, they scaled the ranks this season without a coach. Since 2025, SMC’s Macken Debate and Speech Team has been entirely student-run and organized.

For Lossada, a Psychology major with a Clinical/Counseling concentration, winning nationals was a dream ten years in the making. “When they announced that we were the first-place team national champions, everyone was cheering,” he recalls. “I immediately thought, ‘This is a moment I will remember forever.’”

In that triumphant moment, Pacheco, a Psychology major and Philosophy minor, was most struck by the support from the other teams. “Everybody in the room wanted us to win,” Pacheco says. “Saint Mary’s was barely known, had never made it anywhere near this far, and had no coach. So, of course, they were rooting for us. We were the people’s champions.” 

"Love and community"

As he entered sixth grade at Mayfield Junior School, Lossada had a choice: spend his afterschool hours doing homework, waiting to be picked up, or join the speech and debate club. He chose the latter, and after attending his first tournament, he never looked back. 

In high school, he dove even deeper, even competing at regional and state competitions. When it came time to apply for college, attending a school with a debate team was a nonnegotiable. Lossada applied widely, but he was most drawn to SMC.

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“When I came to tour Saint Mary’s, I knew this was definitely the school for me," he says. "The love and community that you can see on campus really resonated with me.” In addition, Saint Mary’s offers a scholarship for those who participate in the Macken Speech and Debate Team. “As I walked into Saint Mary’s, I also walked straight into the debate team.”

Pacheco began their debate journey a few years later than Lossada’s. While they participated in forensic speech competitions in high school, they never attempted debate, which requires a different skill set. Whereas speech relies mainly on performance and theatricality, debate calls for extensive research, teamwork, and adaptability. Only as a first-year student at Saint Mary’s did Pacheco begin dabbling in debate, encouraged by Andrea Brown, then-coach of the Macken Team. 

The experience was electric, Pacheco recalls. “It’s the joy of having an epiphany—that’s what it’s like to leave a debate tournament, and that’s what pulls you in. There’s the thrill of the win, and the feeling that, after discussing policies and philosophy, you’ve learned and become a better thinker in the process.”  

The years since have been historic for Pacheco and the team. In 2024, Pacheco and their former debate partner, Luis Mora ’27, won the “Novice” division of the NPDA tournament, finishing the season ranked 11th. After Brown departed Saint Mary’s for another position, Pacheco has been a driving force in keeping the team alive and competing. For them, debate has been a highlight of their SMC experience.

“I’ve met people that I genuinely think are the coolest people in the world, some of whom I would consider to be really close friends now on the circuit,” Pacheco says. “The community, at SMC and at the competitions—that’s my favorite part.”

“Saint Mary’s was barely known, had never made it anywhere near this far, and had no coach. So, of course, they were rooting for us. We were the people’s champions.”

— Jasper Pacheco ’27

Eyes on the prize

Pacheco and Lossada teamed up in the fall of 2024, to great success. By the end of last year’s season, they had climbed all the way to fourth. Still, they were never quite sure they had the capacity, or resources, to go all the way. It’s one thing to win local tournaments; it’s another to fly across the country and go up against the biggest teams. 

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But the Macken  Team’s biggest booster remains its namesake, John Macken ’62— a retired physicist, entrepreneur, and former SMC Trustee whose donations help keep the team running. In fact, it was Macken’s generosity that allowed Pacheco and Lossada to travel to the national tournament this year.

“I credit my participation in debate with giving me the communication and advocacy skills necessary to start a scientific company,” Macken says. “About 30 years ago, when I learned that SMC had discontinued the debate program, I worked to bring it back and volunteered to financially support it.” Over the years, Macken has seen the team through its ups and downs. This past year without a coach, he acknowledges, has been especially challenging.

And yet, Macken says, “Jasper and Adrian were not only the top debaters, but they essentially became the coaches of the team. They held regular practices and also made all the administrative arrangements for the 14-member team to participate in debate tournaments.” And the fact that they accomplished all this, and managed to win a national championship? “It’s an amazing accomplishment.”

A future of potential

In the month leading up to the NPDA tournament, Lossada and Pacheco’s practice schedule was jam-packed. Twice a week, Pacheco and Lossada spent three hours on speed drills, clarity drills, scrimmaging, and researching specific debate topics. Then, on February 27, it was time. 

They hopped on a flight from Oakland to Atlanta and caught a shuttle to Mercer University, where the NPDA tournament was held. The first day “didn’t go super great,” Lossada admits. “We actually lost two of our four rounds, and we were not very happy about that.” If they lost one more round, they would be eliminated. 

Fortunately, they didn’t. After winning rounds five and six, they clinched a spot in the octo-finals. Winning those, they moved on to the semi-finals and then the quarter-finals. Eventually, it was down to two teams: Saint Mary’s and Berkeley. Lossada and Pacheco were assigned the proposition side, arguing that the United States federal government should nationalize regulations and licensing for bounty hunters. 

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 “That was probably the hardest debate round I’ve ever done,” Lossada admits. And yet, their efforts paid off. For Lossada, then and now, winning feels “surreal.”

Now, with 12 tournaments this past season and a national tournament under their belt, Lossada and Pacheco have high hopes for the Macken Team’s future. They hope they’ve shifted the culture of parliamentary debate a bit, too. “People know us for being a team that is competitive, but still has fun doing it,” Lossada says. “Hopefully, Jasper and I will set the trajectory for people to loosen up and have more fun within the debate world.”

Pacheco, who has one more year left as a Gael, feels good about where things stand. “We have a stable crew that we’re going to be able to accomplish a lot with, but we really want to have more people get involved,” they say. Pacheco and Lossada are also optimistic that the team could secure a coach next year, allowing the program to continue to grow.  

For those interested in trying out for the debate team, Pacheco offers two words: Do it. “Reach out to us, and we’ll reach out to you,” they say. “We want as many people here as possible.” As the Macken Team moves into the 2026-27 season, too, Pacheco and Lossada hope to see the team expand and have a wider impact on campus. 

Still, as Lossada looks toward graduation, he can’t help getting a bit nostalgic. “The first time Jasper and I partnered up, we won our first tournament together,” he recalls. “In that moment, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, this is different. Making it to nationals is something that we could really do.’ And when we reached this year, my senior year, it was do or die, basically. And so we walked in, and we did it.”