Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s new student Speech and Debate Council is a multiple winner in its first regional competition.

The recent Red River Swing tournament in Louisiana pitted the university’s eight-member team against groups representing 26 other regional institutions of higher learning in more than a half dozen states. The winning MSU students are from three Mississippi cities and one in Wisconsin.

The Bayou State tournament is among numerous events sanctioned annually by the Council of Forensic Organizations’ International Public Debate Association. Council members work to provide opportunities for the development of advocacy skills in forums that also promote appropriate and effective communication. For more, visit www.collegeforensics.org.  

The 2015 Red River Swing was held simultaneously on campuses of Louisiana State University in Shreveport and Bossier Parish Community College in nearby Bossier City.

The MSU winners included:

—Juniors Vanessa A. Cotton of Jackson and Zamia N. Mason of Houston, who placed fifth and sixth in separate duo-interpretation challenges held on each campus. They also received their division’s Top Novice Award. Cotton is a communication/public relations major; Mason, a psychology and criminology double-major.

—Sophomore Sean E. McCarthy of Union Grove, Wisconsin, who finished fourth in persuasive speech. A political science and communication/broadcasting double-major, he also finished third in the IPDA’s Novice Division and was honored with the division’s Top Novice Award.

—In the IPDA Debate challenge, McCarthy and teammate Parker F. Krag of Hattiesburg finished in the top 16 of 68 competitors. A junior history and English double-major, Krag also received first place in the IPDA Novice Division.   

Cheryl R. Chambers, a communication department instructor, serves as the council’s adviser and speech coach. A 2006 summa cum laude MSU communication graduate, she also holds a master’s degree in communication studies from the University of Alabama.

Chambers credits history professor Stephen Middleton, director of MSU’s African American Studies program, for proposing a new student organization that would become the Speech and Debate Council.

Middleton’s initiative followed the university’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Speech Contest in January, Chambers explained. “I volunteered to start the process and have been running the meetings ever since,” she added.

Attorney Brett Harvey is the council’s debate coach. The university’s director of Title IX and equal opportunity programs, he is a Harvard University Law School graduate.

Since the council had no established campus structure, Chambers said members had to organize a raffle to help raise funds for tournament travel expenses. Their efforts were aided by supplemental support from the communication department and African American Studies program.

Chambers said the council currently is working to expand membership, which is open to all MSU students, regardless of academic major or classification. Fees or prior experience are not required, and members may elect to compete in individual events, larger debate settings or both.

“All students should consider what benefits public speaking would have in their classes, career and even their personal lives,” Chambers said, observing that speech and debate activities promote critical thinking, writing, argumentation and organizational skills, among others.

“We have various majors in our group and always encourage new members to come and see what we do,” she continued. “For those who may not be interested in competition, we have several service projects planned, and we plan to hold a public speaking workshop as well.”

For more information about MSU’s Speech and Debate Council, contact Chambers at CChambers@comm.msstate.edu or Harvey at brett.harvey@msstate.edu.

Follow the group on twitter.com/MSUSpeechDebate and instagram.com/msu_speechanddebate/.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.