Dear Editor,
I am a member of the Ball State University Debate Team. This past weekend was the National Championship for National Educational Debate Association. We as a team took the tournament with the first-place sweepstakes award. The first place speaker in the novice division was a freshman debater from Ball State, Jennifer Shea. Jenny and her partner, Joe McGowen, were national finalists, finishing second overall. My partner, Rebecca Tucker, and I were the third place team, finishing as semifinalists. I also received a speaker award, ninth place in novice division. The varsity team of Brett Mock and Kristina Moorhead finished in second place as well in the tournament. Both Brett and Kristina received speaker awards, sixth and ninth respectively. In the Lincoln-Douglas (one on one) division, we had three talented debaters. Ian Flores was a quarterfinalist. Dallis Pike finished as a semifinalist. The most famous of all our debaters, Amanda Carpenter, won the National title in the Lincoln-Douglas Division.
Now the reason for this letter is that we worked hard this year to get where we are. We won a national championship, and the campus continues to ignore us. Why? Thousands of fans show up to a football game we are expected to lose, and no one comes to see how the debate team will do. The basketball team gets a full page spread for losing a game, and we don't get even a small article letting people know we even exist. Competition in the academic realm is one of the best kinds of competition out there. This brings forth intellectual growth. I personally think this is more important than who can run faster or who can put a ball in a hoop. I used to be an athlete. I have since realized the value of intellectual competition. The growth I have seen since then is incredible. I am proud to say I am part of this team. A team that finally won a title. A team that deserves the recognition of this campus. Thank you for your time, and come see us next year.
Lori Pullan
Student
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