La Verne Debate Team Triumphs at Politicon
A panel of celebrities, political analysts and others unanimously named the University of La Verne’s debate team the overall winner at Politicon’s roundtable debate Oct. 10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The debate, organized by the University of La Verne, also included teams from Pepperdine University, the University of Southern California and the University of California Los Angeles on the second day of the convention.
Judges included MSNBC political commentator, Alex Wagner, Hannah Cranston of the political online news show “The Young Turks,” Patrick Millsaps, who served as chief of staff for Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign, and Congressional candidate Clay Aiken, also a finalist for the reality show “American Idol.”
“It was extraordinary for La Verne to win the debate, considering the team was judged by lawyers, political members and the average voter, who considered the persuasion, intellect and style of what we instruct here at the University,” said Rob Ruiz, Director of Forensics and head of the debate team.
Team members Brittany Boiko, a senior political science and speech communication major, and Kandin Maraquin, junior biology major, addressed the argument that experience in elected office should be a requirement of presidential candidates, Ruiz said.
Boiko said having a panel of judges outside the debate circuit was a positive experience because it put their persuasion skills to the test.
“These judges aren’t basing any of their decisions off of role fulfillment (an element of Parliamentary-style debate) or other technicalities or techniques that exist during competition for debate, so it was very much a test of our rhetorical persuasion, which ended up working out,” she said.
Students also attended other events at the convention, including discussions with Michelle Bachman, Ann Coulter and Newt Gingrich. They took pictures with their favorite celebrities and connected with nonprofit organizations for possible volunteer and internship opportunities.
For Boiko and her sister, meeting Aiken was exciting.
“My whole family was crazy about American Idol,” she said. “My sister was in tears a few of the times she saw him over the weekend, so getting to take a picture with Clay was awesome.”
The convention – a Comic-Con style event – is considered a nonpartisan fan fest for politics and entertainment, bringing together politicians, pundits, comedians and entertainers for a weekend of comedy, panels, radio and television broadcasts, debates and more. Participants included James Carville, David Axelrod, Hugh Hewitt and Tony Hale.
Ruiz said he was approached by Politicon to organize a debate for the convention. He saw it as a great opportunity to not only showcase the art of debate, but the skills of La Verne’s team members.
La Verne’s Debate Team has had a successful track record, placing 65th out of 370 teams at the World Universities Debating Championships in Malaysia in 2014. Debater Jake Riggs ranked as the 10th best novice speaker during a competition in November in Oxford, England. That same month, the team took high rankings at the Hugill Cup in Edmonton Canada, and students Joanna Mrsich and Tanner Long were tournament champions at the Steeltown Invitational in Los Medranos.
