Testimonials

Tyler Colwell

The most important aspect of cross-examination debate is its freedom. While we often pay lip service to the idea of an open community of discussion, too often this is a utopian ideal that inevitably fails when put into practice. Even in our every day encounters, when discussing general issues in politics, we rarely think seriously or critically about topics and tend to reject people who do so out of hand, especially when it represents an ideology different from our own. Debate is the only space that I have found that truly lets you make whatever kind of argument you want, regardless of the prejudices of the debaters or the critic. I think this is what makes it such a transformative experience for so many people - when confronted with an argument that challenges your beliefs, you are not allowed to simply refuse to answer and ignore it. The very fact that it can force you to think more critically about yourself can give us hope that the ignorance that we are surrounded with on a daily basis can be undermined and change can really happen, even if it's just on a personal level.

Tia Robertson

I recently transferred to the University of Texas at San Antonio to continue my debate career after the program at the University of Central Oklahoma was cancelled due to extreme circumstances. For me, debate offers a forum for me to voice my opinions and go head to head with other concepts and ideals. The activity offers intellectualism, individuality, confidence, and a community that allows regular students the opportunity to explore and grow with their own intellect and beliefs. For the individuals who are involved with the activity our community and sport becomes one of the biggest, if not the biggest, part of our life. It's what we love and what we are willing to spend countless hours preparing for. Debate is much more then a sport, it is a nationwide rally of people who have a craving and heart for good ideas and the expansion of the mind.
I am proud to say that I've been able to become a part of a community that values intellect and competition. I'm even more proud to say that the team I am now apart of upholds equality and inclusion to the highest standard. I love debate because it gives me a voice and the confidence to hold my head high in any situation I may come across.

Back to top

Scott Koslow

Debate has brought me from the University of Oklahoma, to University of Central Oklahoma, to University of Texas at San Antonio – it's perhaps the only thing that could cause an OU Sooner to transfer to Texas (even if it's not UT Austin). It's gotten me to research Neitzsche, Baudrillard, and now Schmitt, as well as getting me far deeper into more spheres of philosophy than any of my philosophy classes have done. Because of it, I'm now a philosophy major so it's decided the course of my academic career as well as piquing my interest in academics. The competitive element of debate also offers a unique form of education, which pushes me to research more and harder. It's been the most interesting, educational, and exciting thing I've done in the past four years.
Even though I'm a newcomer to UTSA debate, everyone has been extremely welcoming. Their efforts, especially those of Skip Eno, have served to make this place a home for me. The team, without exception, has been phenomenal, doing everything they can to help, and has offered a slew of new friendships to help me integrate into San Antonio.
In real terms, when I get my BA in philosophy, debate will actually offer some way for me to seek employment. It's been the only way I've been able to afford school. Debate has been so beneficial for me, I plan to re-enter debate as a coach and do everything I can to ensure that the benefits I've accrued from debate can be passed on.

Jordan Nerison

During high school, the most important things I have learned and the most life-changing experiences I've had are the ones I've had as a debater. The experiences I've had as a debater have allowed me the opportunity to combine things like critical literature and competitive argumentation, as well as given me the opportunity to interact with a diverse group of both friends and strangers in a way that is unique to any other academic experience I have come across thus far. Nowhere else can I talk about post-modern ethics, ontology, and Fight Club all at the same time, and with people who are as, if not more, dedicated to the activity as I am. Through my experience in debate, I have become a holistically well-rounded individual with not only a lot of exposure to critical literature, but also with a lot of practice explaining myself and my arguments in a way that is interesting, easy to follow, and appealing. Additionally, the competitive element of debate makes it unbelievably exciting. In particular, the competitive element of debate allows me to challenge myself academically more then I can in any other class because I have to constantly re-defend my arguments and refute attacks on my arguments at a higher level than most classroom discussions will engage in. Overall, I think what I like most about debate is that it offers me a space to make my voice heard about virtually anything I want to talk about and a competitive forum to push the limits of what is conventionally considered an argument.

Emil Calhoun

Debate opens a unique space where the intellectual can thrive and assumptions challenged. Debate allows exploration in to the fabric of beliefs, values, norms, whereas in any other venue the ideal of opposing foundations is chastised and dismissed. This space is pivotal in the advancement of education and critical thinking. The current lack of this space is ever present in most modern forms of education and is evidenced in lack of questioning and regurgitation of facts called learning. Debate provides this space and allows individuals to gain truly higher education. The type of education that embraces multiple points of views, critical reading, and thinking. Being able to discuss what makes us act, think, and say as well as what is truth, or rather does truth exist, is what makes debated unparalleled and unequivocally important to me. I enjoy debate because of this space and the opportunity in provides.

Back to top

Derek Liles

I never know exactly how to describe my involvement in cross examination debate, much less why I enjoy the activity so much. Typically I tailor my response to fit in with what I think the other person would like to hear, as a result of years of practice at argumentative posturing and judge adaptation. Despite this, there doubtlessly are things that really do keep me coming back, year after year, regardless of the amount of time and energy that this activity demands. While I could fill this small blurb with various references to the educational benefits or the professional references I can gather over my 8-year stint in debate; I'd prefer to be honest and bring up what I enjoy most in this activity: the friends and connections I've made. Debate is a unique extracurricular activity in that it is more social than purely athletic or academic groups-the whole idea is to get together and exchange intellectual ideas about current events, policy, and philosophy with your peers. These peers are people who I have spent a large part of my life growing intellectually and socially with, who I have become close friends with over years of travel and competition. They are the reason I debate, they are the motivation to sacrifice so much time preparing for tournaments, and they are the inspiration that drives me to devote myself so fully to the activity. In the 80's, people had Cheers when they wanted to be somewhere where everyone knew their name. In the 90's, Friends were there for you. When I want to enjoy the company of people who are intelligent, caring, and reliable, I know that I have a home in debate community.

Briana Roberts

Within the first week of my joining debate, Skip Eno was protesting the fact that a Human Rights Agreement only used “he” instead of “he/she”. That was the moment that I knew that I had found a group of people who thought the way that I did. In my two years on debate, I have come to realize that debate is more than a competition, it is a space where critical minded students can come together to expand their knowledge base and constantly question their own views on the world. In a time when education is focusing more on trying to memorize facts and pass tests, debate offers students a way to expand on the facts and figures from class work and make it applicable to their lives. I say that we are a like minded group of individuals, but at the same time, personality difference run rampant on the debate team. Despite the differences that may be there, debate as a competitive sport offers a medium where two radically different people can come together for the betterment of the team and debate’s ability to teach people to see other perspectives allows two radically different people to actually become friends.
But more importantly than that, UTSA debate offers a place where anyone can come and be a part of a group, regardless of experience or ability. If someone is willing to work, then the UTSA debate team will find something for them to do. Debaters realize that everyone has something to contribute and strive to acknowledge and use those talents. It is a mindset that, sadly, does not exist in many other places. The people on the UTSA debate team embrace differences and realize that there are many ways of improving the team as a whole.

Austin Montee

Debate has allowed me to understand permutations between differing theories and ideologies and gain knowledge in a broad range of ideas from critical post modernism and existentialist literature to current global political theory in the realm of international and domestic policy, like how realism affects our fiscal decisions domestically and our military presence internationally. Over the course of a debate season, I find myself becoming very familiar and versed in subject matter concerned with the annual policy resolution. For instance, seven years ago, during my freshman year of high school, I learned how the process of a water-bound vessel ingesting water into the ballast of its hull to maintain proper weight while traveling large distances by sea can inadvertently transport non-indigenous species into a different ecosystem abroad, which when dumped in this new environment to even back out the weight of the ship in the new location leads to invasive species disrupting the balance of the local food chain and thus, rapidly depleting marine natural resources in that area.

Andy Montee

Debate is my life. My parents met in college through debate, my brother and sister have been on the debate team with me in high school and college, and in high school my mom helped coach the team and drive us to tournaments. It's the one activity that I can point to as the most influential thing in my life, and it's the most rewarding game I've ever played. The intricacies of strategy and the highs of victory make debate more addicting than any drug. I love the late weekends working in the squad room and the long car rides across the country just as much as I love the feeling I get when I hear a judge announce that I've won. Collegiate debate has been the singular focus of my life for eight years, and after I graduate, I don't know how I'll replace this activity that I love so much.

Back to top