by Elizabeth Rodarte
Staff Writer
There is no doubt in the mind of Assistant Director of Speech and Debate Ian Lising that the University of La Verne debate team has the potential of being one of the best teams in the world.
According to Lising, the Oxford Intervarsity Tournament in England is one of the most prestigious tournaments outside of the world championships.
“It [Oxford Tournament] attracts top-rank world teams,” said Lising.
Lising said that the Debating Society of Oxford has hosted highly-respected speakers such as Mother Theresa, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Malcolm X. It is in that same stage where ULV debated in the final round in November.
“To see La Verne students speaking from the same podium that these people have spoken from is just incredible,” Lising said.
It has been several years since the last American team made it to finals at the Oxford Intervarsity Tournament.
Immediately after the Oxford tournament, the ULV debate team had a couple of days to prepare for the Cambridge Tournament. At the Cambridge Tournament, ULV made it to the semifinals, once again making history.
“It is the first time an American team has broken into both tournaments,” said Lising.
Lising said a majority of the team’s success has to do with their international awareness and background.
“They have a clear understanding of what it takes a team to be successful in the U.S. They have slowly learned what it takes to be successful in Great Britain, and now they have my experience from the Austria-Asia region,” said Lising. “They see the whole world now.
“It shows that they did their homework. They have native talent, and these guys can really think and speak on their feet,” said Dr. George Keeler, chair of the Communications Department. “The University of La Verne went to the birth place of debate. They went in and stole the show from the Europeans.”
Keeler added, “I had high expectations for them, but they achieved beyond that, bringing credit to themselves and to the University of La Verne.”
At the Oxford Intervarsity 1999 Tournament, four debaters placed in distinctive categories. In the team category, senior political science major Justin Jones-Rodriguez and junior international relations major Sean Krispinsky took third place. Sophomore communications major Ryan Knowles and junior economics major Stefan Chacon placed 17th of 73 teams.
In the individual speaker rankings, Jones-Rodriguez placed fifth, beating some of the current top world debaters. Krispinsky took 25th, Knowles 43rd and Chacon 51st place out of 146 competitors.
“Chris and Ian should be commended for being the catalysts of this achievement. Good teaching is behind the success of the students,” said Dr. Keeler.
Lising said, “All I can do as a coach is provide direction, provide background or the foundations.”
The pride of ULV circulated and penetrated into the foreign audience.
“The pride that we felt showed when we were introduced into the final round, said Lising. “Everybody cheered for La Verne. We became the crowd darling.”
“It was amazing. we felt like we were on top of the world,” said Rodriguez.
Lising said both Oxford and Cambridge are tournaments that usually gage the future performance in the world debate championships because it takes place a month prior.
“The name of La Verne is going to spread. The world recognition that will come from achievement is fascinating,” said Lising.
The future holds a promising outlook for 20th World Debate Championships in Sydney next month.
“At the very least everyone knows they are going to break. They will be among the top 32 teams for sure,” Lising said. “And of course there is still a lot of pressure.”
Keeler said, “This was a testing ground for Sydney and a place for jostling for position. I expect that they will be in the top five in Sydney.”
The debaters said they are satisfied with their achievements and are now focused on doing well in Sydney.
“I see La Verne becoming, for the first time, a respected institution internationally,” said Jones-Rodriguez.
Krispinsky said, “I would like people to know that debate exists at the University of La Verne, that debate is the life blood of democracy and that without it, this country nor any democratic country in the world would be were it is today.”
“You get nervous, but La Verne is getting recognized. We are not going in complete rookies, we have some friends out in the world circuit and we feel more comfortable,” said Chacon.
“It was a weird feeling because you had four different countries in one room together talking about issues that obviously differ from country to country,” Knowles said of the latest competition. “Hearing all of these accents flowing around your conversation is an experience like no other.”
“Their hard work, dedication and their sacrifice has brought them to their success,” Lising said.
