Jupiter, FL (March 22, 2010) – The students from the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College not only attend numerous academic conferences around the state and country, they also often host these conferences. From February 26th through the 28th, the Florida Intercollegiate Forensic Association (FIFA) State Championship involved twelve universities and 113 competitors. Students competed in two debate events, eleven American Forensic Association individual events, and a Reader’s Theatre (Group Interpretation) program. Awards were given to the top six competitors in the individual events, the five teams entered in Reader’s Theatre, the semifinalists and finalists in each debate event, and the top six orators in each debate event.
            This was the first year in FIFA’s history that the tournament was hosted by a student-organized debate team and supervised by an undergraduate who was also competing in the tournament, Honors College student and FAU Debate Team President Alan Gray.
            Gray was able to defend his State Championship title in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. He was also the Second Place Speaker in Parliamentary Debate and Lincoln-Douglas Debate and the runner-up in Persuasive Speaking. Each year, the top two competitors at the State Championship in Persuasive Speaking are invited to attend the contest of the Interstate Oratory Association, the oldest oratorical contest in the United States. The 138th contest will be held this year at the University of Oklahoma in Norman on April 22-24, and Gray plans to represent the state of Florida.
            The FAU Debate Team placed third in the Debate Sweepstakes, sixth in the Overall Team Sweepstakes, and, for the third consecutive year, reclaimed its Division I State Championship Title. Debate Team Vice President Robert Bruton and Secretary Wesley Mathieu were also in attendance while Treasurer David Pick helped administer the tournament. Florida Governor Charlie Crist and U.S. Senators Bill Nelson and George LeMieux sent letters to the tournament competitors expressing their support and well wishes. Campus Vice President Joyanne Stephens attended the tournament on Friday and sent her well wishes to the competitors. Honors College Dean Jeffrey Buller greeted the competitors before the closing awards ceremony on Sunday.
            “We're all very proud of the FAU debate team as well as of the faculty, staff and students who assisted in our hosting the state championship tournament. There were a lot of competitors from all over the state, and at one point we were using just about every classroom on campus. Alan and the whole team did an amazing job not just helping to run the tournament, but also competing so successfully,” said Dr. Mark Tunick, Associate Dean for the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University.

Byline: Tamara Howard