Forensics Team finishes second at winter tournament

Bloomsburg University’s Forensics Team recently have won the 2nd Place Team Sweepstakes Award out of eight schools at the Collegiate Forensics Association’s Annual Winter Tournament held at the College of Charleston.

Eleven out of the sixteen BU students won speech and debates awards and three won four first place awards. BU student Katie Rose recently placed 4th in the Place of Communication Analysis, and 6th in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

“I’m proud that I placed in Lincoln-Douglas debate at the Charleston tournament; it was the very first time that I’ve ever won an award for debate and I was not expecting it” says Katie Rose, junior, BU Forensic Team).

“As for the team, I’m proud that we only took eight people to Wilkes and we still managed to place third overall, and that would not have been possible if certain people didn’t step up and do events they normally don’t compete in. Everyone gave it their all and the hard work paid off well”

Not only does Every member on the Forensic Team works extremely hard for each competition, “Bloomsburg always wins loudest and best-dressed team” says Katie Rose

Katie added, “I usually practice delivering my speeches in front of my friends and/or teammates. It helps to rehearse in front of someone supportive who can offer comments and constructive criticism. For Lincoln-Douglas debate, I try to find new sources that support my arguments”

The Forensics Team is the only co-curricular academic activity on the BU campus that will allow students to earn academic credit per semester for participation at the tournament.

“For the BU Forensic Team, tournaments are super fun! We have opportunities to travel to places such as Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, and even Canada for little to no cost, thanks to our funding from CGA. I have seen a lot of new places that I would have never gotten to visit had it not been for my membership on the team. It’s a great way to meet new people, too” – Rose

Katie says her favorite part of being on the Forensics team is having the chance to share my voice on important topics in entertaining ways, and also learning about so many new subjects just by listening to others’ speeches.

Awards at the College of Charleston Tournament

• Amy Bitar: 1st Place Pentathlon, 1st Informative Speaking, 3rd Prose Interpretation, 3rd Single Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd Dramatic Duo with Tarah Kelley, 2nd Declamation, 2nd Best Speaker Parliamentary Debate, 4th Parliamentary Team debate with Tarah Kelley.
• Tarah Kelley: 4th Place Poetry, 2nd Dramatic Duo with Amy Bitar, 4th Best Speaker Parliamentary Debate, 4th Parliamentary Team debate with Amy Bitar, 6th Pentathlon
• Allison Robbins: 2nd Place After Dinner Speaking, 5th Persuasive Speaking
• Thomas Weber: 3rd Place Impromptu Speaking, 5th Communication Analysis, 5th Lincoln-Douglas Debate
• Shawn Edwards: 3rd Place Informative Speaking, 5th Best Speaker Parliamentary Debate
• Katie Rose: 4th Place Communication Analysis, 6th Lincoln-Douglas Debate
• Joseph Touey: 1st Place After-Dinner Speaking
• Jonathan Roe: 5th Place Impromptu Speaking
• Tasha Hill: 5th Place Parliamentary Team Debate (with student from the University of Richmond)
• Katarina Solovey: 1st Place Poetry
• Isaac Osborn: 6th Place Prose

The other BU students participating in the tournament and contributing to the team’s success included Emme Reiser, Andrew Kline, Kyle Bower, Noah Roux, and Taylor Baker. Neil Strine, Director of Forensics, and Mark Usry, associate professor of accounting, and served as speech and debate judges for Bloomsburg at the tournament.