NEDA Parli Teams Finish Strong
April 26th, 2007
BY LINDSAY SEE
| CONTACT: | David Halbrook Patrick Henry College (540) 338-8727 OfficeOfCommunications@phc.edu |
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PHC Parliamentary Debate Team (L-R):
Dominique Deming, Chris Tuggle, Lindsay See, Joseph Alm, Rebecca Ries, Storm Swensboe, Isaiah McPeak, Kawika Vellalos |
Patrick Henry’s Parli team competed for the last time this season at the National Parliamentary Debate Association’s National Championship, March 22-25, at the Colorado Colleges in Colorado Springs. Lindsay See and Kawika Vellalos, a senior from Michigan and junior from Hawaii, broke to elimination rounds at the Championship Tournament, a feat never before achieved at PHC, and advanced to the tournament’s second “out-round.”
NPDA is the largest intercollegiate debate association in the United States, and PHC’s eight parli debaters competed against 240 teams from across the country at the Championship Tournament.
“All four of our teams competed well,” noted See, who also coaches the 2006-2007 team. “Our parli program has grown a lot in the past few years and it was exciting to see our team conduct themselves with integrity, confidence, and skill in such a difficult league.”
Parli resolutions often center on controversial cultural issues, which provides a unique opportunity for Patrick Henry debaters in a league with an often fiercely liberal bent.
“One of the challenges in Parli debate,” said See, “is learning to argue against positions and ideas when both teams come from diametrically opposed frameworks—moral, political, philosophical. Not only does this kind of argumentation help us better understand our own beliefs, but it helps us communicate in a way that honors Christ and offers a reasoned voice for more conservative, and often underrepresented, positions.”
PHC 2006-2007 Parli Team: Joseph Alm (Spring Semester), Anne Corda (Fall Semester), Dominique Deming, Isaiah McPeak (Spring), Rebekah Ries, Lindsay See, Storm Swendsboe, Nick Timpe (Fall), Chris Tuggle (Spring), Kawika Vellalos.
