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 4thin 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:1stPlace Pentathlon, 1stInformative Speaking, 3rdProse Interpretation, 3rdSingle Dramatic Interpretation, 2ndDramatic Duo with Tarah Kelley, 2ndDeclamation, 2ndBest Speaker Parliamentary Debate, 4thParliamentary Team debate with Tarah Kelley.

Tarah Kelley:4thPlace Poetry, 2ndDramatic Duo with Amy Bitar, 4thBest Speaker Parliamentary Debate, 4thParliamentary Team debate with Amy Bitar, 6thPentathlon

Allison Robbins: 2ndPlace After Dinner Speaking, 5thPersuasive Speaking

Thomas Weber: 3rdPlace Impromptu Speaking, 5thCommunication Analysis, 5thLincoln-Douglas Debate

Shawn Edwards: 3rdPlace Informative Speaking, 5thBest Speaker Parliamentary Debate

Katie Rose: 4thPlace Communication Analysis, 6thLincoln-Douglas Debate

Joseph Touey: 1stPlace After-Dinner Speaking Jonathan Roe: 5thPlace Impromptu Speaking

Tasha Hill: 5thPlace Parliamentary Team Debate (with student from the University of Richmond)

Katarina Solovey:1stPlace Poetry Isaac Osborn: 6thPlace 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.