By: Carly Watson
Michigan State University Debate members Joanna Gusis and Stephen Lewis earned a first round at-large bid to the National Debate Tournament (NDT) securing the team’s 30th consecutive qualification to the NDT.
Gusis, a Statistics and Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy senior in the Honors College, and Lewis, a Social Relations and Policy junior, automatically qualified to the national tournament after being designated as one of the top sixteen teams in the country.
“The top sixteen teams are given automatic qualification for the NDT based on coaches from all over the country evaluating their season-long record,” said Will Repko, MSU Debate Head Coach. “This invitation is a testament to how much Joanna and Stephen have been killing it this year.”
In the regular season, Gusis and Lewis were semifinalists at a tournaments hosted by the University of Kentucky and Wake Forest University. They also participated in an invitation-only tournament for seven of the top teams in the country hosted by Dartmouth College.
Other colleges that earned at-large bids include Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Emory University, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Kansas, California State University – Long Beach, the University of Iowa, the University of Kentucky, and Binghampton University.
“Every year it’s really challenging to end up in the top sixteen and this is truly a whole-of-team effort,” said Jasmine Stidham, MSU Debate Assistant Coach. “All of the students on the team and the coaches have worked hard all year to get to this point.”
Gusis and Lewis are the 26th team in MSU Debate history to receive a first round at-large bid to the NDT and this is the 30th year in a row the team has qualified to the NDT.
Additional members of the MSU Debate Team will participate in qualifying process over the next several weeks and the NDT will be hosted by the University of Houston in late March. MSU has a history of success at the National Debate Tournament having won the tournament three times.
The MSU Debate Team is part of the Honors College.