Gannon Debating Society

The Gannon Debating Society is one of the oldest clubs on campus. A member of the National Educational Debate Association, the Society competes against colleges and universities from across the United States. Recent competitions have been held at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Saint Peter's College had the honor of hosting the 2008 National Competition in Jersey City, NJ, and the 2009 National Competition at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. Saint Peter's College has also been asked to host the 2012 National Competition for this upcoming year.

What We Do

NEDA tournaments offer partner debates, where teams of two compete against each other in both policy and crossfire formats. In Policy debate, the affirmative team attempts to offer a working policy in support of the tournament's resolution, providing evidence to support both the resolution and their suggested plan. In Crossfire debate, each side directly argues for or against the resolution with shorter speeches and back-and-forth questioning. In addition to these, Gannon Debate has joined a second league that offers one-on-one Lincoln-Douglas debates as a third debate format.

The Gannon Debating Society welcomes both those who have experience in debate or argumentation as well as newcomers unfamiliar with the process. We prepare all participants for the tournaments with research support, instruction on argumentation, and practice amongst group members. All who are interested should contact an E-Board member as soon as possible.

 

Spring 2012 Debate Topic:

NEDA: The United States prison system should significantly increase programs to rehabilitate inmates.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mid-February / late February, depending on preparedness of debaters.

Lincoln-Douglas: The United States federal government should substantially change its trade policies and/or practices with China.

 
the dates of the next Meetings:

Meetings will be planned for every Monday from 12:00 to 1:00pm in the Library Conference Room (2nd Floor). At these meetings members will discuss methods of debating, rules of debate, and aspects of logic and argumentation. We will also be going over administrative duties, such as discussing tournament details and setting up practices.

At the moment, meetings that do not fall on a Monday will be held in the Emeritus Room in Pope Hall; occasionally, these meetings may take place in the Degnan Room in St. Peter's Hall. These meetings will be for reviewing and pooling research, and also for possible practice matches amongst debaters. Please bring your research to these meetings. Meeting times for these events will be given out at the regular Monday meetings.

 If you are interested in joining the Gannon Debating Society, or have any questions, please contact any member of the E-Board.

Members of the Gannon Debating Society at the 2009 Business Symposium