College Debaters Coming to VSU for Georgia Debate Championships

VALDOSTA -- Valdosta State University will host the Georgia Parliamentary Debate Association’s 2012 state championship tournament beginning at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, in Nevins Hall. On Saturday, the event continues with the elimination rounds and ends with an awards banquet in the Student Union Ballroom.

VSU’s Forensics (Speech and Debate) Team will both host and compete in the two-day tournament.

Dr. Michael Eaves, director of forensics and president of the Georgia Parliamentary Debate Association, said that an estimated 40 to 50 students, debating in pairs, are expected to converge on the VSU campus for the event. Participating institutions of higher education include Gainesville State College, Gainesville; Mercer University, Macon; Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; Piedmont College, with campuses in Athens and Demorest; and Morehouse College, Atlanta. Schools are allowed to enter more than one team.

This is the first time VSU has hosted the Georgia Parliamentary Debate Association’s state championship tournament, Eaves said.

Eaves explained that the debates will take place throughout Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in 15 to 20 different classrooms inside Nevins Hall. Topics range from ObamaCare and alternative energy to how candidates are elected to office and the United States federal government protecting its borders.

The debates, which are known to get pretty intense, are open to the public.

Eaves said Dr. Louis Levy, interim president of VSU, has agreed to judge the final round of the tournament.

For more information, please contact Dr. Michael Eaves, director of forensics at VSU, at (229) 259-5116 or meaves@valdosta.edu.