Belmont Speech and Debate Team Has Historic Win at State Championships

The Belmont Speech and Debate team won the state title in historic fashion at the Tennessee Intercollegiate Forensics Association (TIFA) state tournament held at Pellissippi State Community College on March 26-27. The team spent the weekend debating hot topic issues and using their voices to stand up for the disadvantaged.

Some highlights include Kay Allen winning Top Speaker in the novice division and Luke Litz winning Second Place Speaker in the varsity division. Additionally, in individual events, senior Alex Jordan won Top Overall Speaker at the tournament with six other Belmont students placing in the Top Eight.

In all twelve individual events offered at the tournament, Belmont University won seven "Top Novice" awards for first-year competitors and claimed the state championship in 10 of the 12 individual events. No other team in the history of the competition has won that many individual titles. In total, Belmont totaled 393 points throughout the course of the weekend, with the second highest ranking team only scoring 143 points overall.