The Northwestern Debate Society dealt with some unfinished business in Dallas this week, becoming the 2011 National Debate Tournament champions after falling short in the final round last year.
NU beat Emory University on Monday night in the final round of the tournament, hosted at the University of Texas at Dallas.
The victory gave NU its 14th national championship title, adding to the team’s unmatched reputation. It remains the winningest debate team in NDT history.
It also marked coach Dan Fitzmier’s first NDT title since taking over the program in 2009.
Led by Weinberg seniors Stephanie Spies and Matt Fisher, the team passed yearlong rival Harvard University along the way as well as the University of Oklahoma, the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley, all of which ranked in the top 10.
Last year the pair took the University to its first finals appearance since it won in 2005, but lost to Michigan State University in the championship round.
Luke Hill (SESP ’05) works as the team’s program coordinator. He said winning the national championship was a goal Spies and Fisher set for themselves when they began debating together last year.
“There is not a more deserving team to win the national championship in terms of effort and drive,” Hill said.
Spies was also awarded the tournament’s top speaker prize.
The two debaters originally teamed up at Glenbrook North High School, setting another record as the first pair to be national champions in both high school and college.
“There was definitely one goal throughout the past two years even, and after last year, that’s what we had to come back and finish,” Spies said.
Heading into the tournament, NU ranked third behind Harvard and Emory, based on overall season record. After going 8-0 in the preliminary round, Spies’ and Fisher’s team seeded first for the elimination round, which is organized in a bracket system.
Three teams from NU competed in the elimination round. One of the other two was seeded second and eventually got knocked out in the semifinal round.
The tournament marked the first time NU has qualified two teams for the semifinals.
Competition all year has centered on immigration policy, specifically how to increase the number of visas the U.S. gives out, Spies said.
She added that the atmosphere during the debate is intense; Fisher likened it to baseball’s World Series or hockey’s Stanley Cup.
“Obviously it’s a very high level of competition,” Spies said. “There are a lot of people there that are debating at their last college tournament ever, so there’s pressure in that respect.”
More than 20 people accompanied the duo in Dallas, including coaches, alumni and teammates who had already been eliminated in the tournament. Each was quick to give credit to the support staff that helped them by doing research, highlighting evidence and buying food.
In a University press release, School of Communication Dean Barbara O’Keefe commended Fitzmier’s coaching. The team is funded by the school and is the oldest continuous program in the nation, dating back to 1855.
“Northwestern is one of the few elite universities that maintains a strong connection between its intercollegiate debate program and its curriculum in studies of argumentation and public policy debate,” O’Keefe said. “Dan Fitzmier is a great teacher and mentor to our students.”
Hill said he also expects the win will help the program maintain strong recruiting efforts by luring high school seniors.
Spies said she still could not comprehend the magnitude of it all.
“Honestly it’s still kind of surreal,” she said. “It’s an amazing thing … the amount of support we’ve already gotten from alumni and from the administration just kind of congratulating us is unbelievable, and the amount of people in the debate community who really respect Northwestern is a great thing.”
“I don’t think I would have been able to do it at any other school,” she added. “I’m really glad and honored to be part of the Northwestern debate legacy, and I hope to be able to give back to that even after I graduate.”
