Howard Payne University’s speech and debate team, the Student Speaker Bureau, recently hosted the Fall 2012 Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association (TIFA) state championship tournament. HPU received several honors including Debate Sweepstakes and 2nd Place Overall.
The university hosted 19 institutions from Texas and other southern states and almost 200 people including competitors, coaches and judges. With 31 teams competing, the event had the largest Fall TIFA debate participation ever.“Hosting this tournament for the first time on the HPU campus was a privilege and everything went smoothly,” said Dr. Julie Welker, chair of the communication department and Student Speaker Bureau (SSB) coach. “We were delighted to have so many guests on campus competing.”
HPU had the top two debate teams, winning the Debate Sweepstakes. The teams were comprised of Jake Aschmutat, a senior from Corpus Christi, and Ben Palmer, a junior from Van; and Katie Rose Bonner, a sophomore from Lytle, and Catherine Mullaney, a junior from Boylston, Massachusetts.
The SSB’s 2nd Place Overall win included points earned from debate and individual events. Individual scores are as follows: Aschmutat, 2nd place Parliamentary Debate Speaking, 5th place Impromptu Speaking, 6th place Impromptu Speaking; Bonner, 3rd place Persuasive Speaking, 5th place Persuasive Speaking, Impromptu Speaking semifinalist; Timothy Hardy, a junior from Corpus Christi, 5th place Parliamentary Debate Speaking; Palmer, 7th place Parliamentary Debate Speaking, Impromptu Speaking semifinalist; and Mullaney, 9th place Parliamentary Debate Speaking. Also competing were Marcos Corley, Sarah Owens, Kaleigh Tankersley, Jessica Ramirez and Dorie Walton. Kim Bryant, associate professor of communication, also served as coach.
“I’m so proud of our team’s winning performance at this tournament,” Welker said. “It’s always nice to win but especially when you get to win on your own turf.”
Pictured above: HPU SSB competitors included (back row, from left): Dorie Walton, Jake Aschmutat, Marcos Corley and Ben Palmer, (front row, left to right) Katie Rose Bonner, Jessica Ramirez, Kaleigh Tankersley, Sarah Owens and Katie Mullaney. Not pictured is Timothy Hardy.
