2022 AFA-National Speech Tournament (AFA-NST) & National Debate Tournament (NDT) Results

The AFA sponsors two intercollegiate national championships in debate and speech. We applaud the competitors, coaches, and administrations who worked tirelessly to provide a successful season and end-of-the-year tournaments despite the many barriers posed by COVID-19 and hybrid working environments.

2022 AFA-National Speech Tournament hosted by University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Final Results

Full final results packet can be found here.

Team Sweepstakes:

1. University of Texas-Austin
2. George Mason University
3. University of Alabama
4. Eastern Michigan University
5. Bradley University

Individual Sweepstakes:

1. Anna Kutbay, Alabama
2. Ja’Quacy Minter, Alabama
3. Auryon Azar, Eastern Michigan University
4. Kimberly Lee, Texas-Austin
5. Evan Ortiz, Texas-Austin

After Dinner Speaking:

1. Doniven Hill-Bush Illinois State University
2. Clay Parker University of Texas at Austin
3. Auryon Azar Eastern Michigan University
4. Spencer Schumacher University of Texas at Austin
5. Anna Kutbay University of Alabama
6. Evn Ortiz University of Texas at Austin

Communication Analysis:

1. David Daye Bradley University
2. Meera Sam University of Texas at Austin
3. Simran Chugani University of Minnesota
4. Anna Kutbay University of Alabama
5. Kat Khalilian University of Texas at Austin
6. Casey Buisson University of Alabama

Dramatic Interpretation:

1. Emily Feazel Seton Hall University
2. Kimberly Lee University of Texas at Austin
3. Sarah Dubinsky Eastern Michigan University
4. Brendan Kachnowski Hastings College
5. Valeria Najera University of Texas at Austin
6. Hope Smothers Lewis & Clark College

Duo Interpretation:

1. Eleni Mercer and Izzie Larson George Mason University
2. Alex Brewbaker and Ja’Quacy Minter University of Alabama
3. Jackson Reich and Kimberly Lee University of Texas at Austin
4. Fernando Cereceres and Kai Solis University of Texas at Austin
5. Mycah Butler and Terrence Mayfield Illinois State University
6. Pablo Labiaga and Valeria Najera University of Texas at Austin

Extemporaneous Speaking:

1. Kat Khalilian University of Texas at Austin
2. Lily Pieper Bradley University
3. Richard Hu California State University, Los Angeles
4. Anna Kutbay University of Alabama
5. Aaron Lutz Lewis & Clark College
6. Spencer Schumacher University of Texas at Austin

Impromptu Speaking:

1. Anna Kutbay University of Alabama
2. Richard Hu California State University, Los Angeles
3. Isaac Sherman University of Alabama
4. Evan Ortiz University of Texas at Austin
5. Auryon Azar Eastern Michigan University
6. Aaron Lutz Lewis & Clark College

Informative Speaking:

1. Anna Kutbay University of Alabama
2. Prem Ganesan George Mason University
3. Terrence Mayfield Illinois State University
4. Auryon Azar Eastern Michigan University
5. Roy Salazar University of Texas at Austin
6. Eden Kenney Lewis & Clark College

Persuasive Speaking:

1. David Daye Bradley University
2. Evan Ortiz University of Texas at Austin
3. Roy Salazar University of Texas at Austin
4. Maleeha Rasheed University of Illinois at Chicago
5. Jose Quinones George Mason University
6. Meera Sam University of Texas at Austin

Poetry Interpretation:

1. Alexandria Moulton Doane University
2. Eleni Mercer George Mason University
3. Ja’Quacy Minter University of Alabama
4. Izzie Larson George Mason University
5. Fernando Cereceres University of Texas at Austin
6. Hailea Stone San Diego State University

Program Oral Interpretation:

1. Simran Chugani University of Minnesota
2. Kimberly Lee University of Texas at Austin
3. Fernando Cereceres University of Texas at Austin
4. Prem Ganesan George Mason University
5. Joseph Cyrus Bradley University
6. Kyle Ahern University of Texas at Austin

Prose Interpretation:

1. Hope Smothers Lewis & Clark College
2. Valeria Najera University of Texas at Austin
3. Ja’Quacy Minter University of Alabama
4. Kimberly Lee University of Texas at Austin
5. Eleni Mercer George Mason University
6. Kelly Mwaamba Lafayette College

Congratulations to the 2022 All-American Team members!

 

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Outstanding New Coach

Patrick Seick, University of Tampa

 

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Distinguished Service Awards

Mark Rittenour, University of Akron

 

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Darren Epping-Fuentes, Kansas State University

 

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Distinguished Alumni Awards

Zenobia Harris Bivens

 

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The 2022 American Forensic Association National Speech Tournament awarded Zenobia Harris Bivens a Distinguished Alumni Award posthumously.

In 2003, Zenobia Harris Bivens was the first Black woman to win the NST. She competed for West Texas A&M University. In 2003, she placed in Final Rounds of Poetry, Prose, and Duo and placed in the Semi-Final Rounds of DI, Info, and POI. After graduating from West Texas A&M, she pursued her master’s degree at the University of Alabama while serving as a graduate assistant and coach for the Alabama team. While at Alabama, Zenobia created the Coalition for Change to preserve civil rights and Black gravesites found on the Alabama campus.

Zenobia then attended Northwestern University—Pritzker Law School where she was a legal extern to former Senator Barack Obama & graduated cum laude with a Doctor of Jurisprudence. Zenobia served as clerk for the Honorable Carl E. Stewart of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and the Honorable Justice Dale Wainwright (ret.) of the Texas Supreme Court. She served as counsel in cases involving NASA, the Department of Defense, & the Department of Housing and Urban Development among many. Zenobia successfully argued a case before the United States Supreme Court. At the time of her death, Zenobia was a Managing Partner for the Frost, Brown & Todd Law Firm. She was relentless in her pursuit for justice, and this was evident in her pro bono advocacy work as she was particularly passionate about helping those who had been denied justice by the legal system that she so cherished.

Zenobia was one of the first to volunteer to assist in being and finding legal counsel for the NST. She also worked with the Houston Urban Debate league developing a curriculum for speech in the debate for low-income and at-risk students in Houston. She not only took the advocacy outside of the round but actively changed the world.

As a distinguished alumnus, she brought speech outside the classroom and into action.

Zenobia passed away on January 8, 2022.

Juanita Page Wilson

 

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Congratulations to Juanita Page Wilson for receiving a 2022 American Forensic Association Distinguished Alumni Award.

Although Juanita Page Wilson’s accomplishments are long, justifying her as deserving of this award only takes one sentence: Two-time AFA-NST National Champion, UNL Undergraduate Achievement Award Winner, Hearst Award Winner, NAACP Award Winner, Emmy Award Winner.

As a student, competitor, and professional, she has been an innovator and leader. When Juanita came to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) she had never competed in high school speech. After graduation, she began working at Warner Brothers Media, formerly Discovery Inc. as a post-production marketing coordinator. Since then, she has worked on a number of projects at Discovery, such as Shark Week, Space Launch Live, Skyscraper Live and received recognition for her work on the international event Race to Extinction. This television special sought to highlight species extinction and curb carbon emissions. Her current position at Warner Brothers Discovery is International Programming and Content Manager. This involves overseeing the international programming matters for Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Motor Trend and Discovery + . The projects she has engaged in help promote facts and science, two things our society needs more of at this time.

Although Juanita’s work is often behind the scenes, she still uses her voice for important causes. In 2014, she won an Emmy for her voice over work with the short film Fair and Free featuring Sandra Day O’Connor about the need to keep America’s judges free from the influence of politics and money. She has also starred in and produced short films for the NAACP Image Awards celebrating Black History month. Years after her eligibility was up, she is still showing us that her voice has power and an audience.

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2022 76th National Debate Tournament hosted by James Madison University

Final Results

 

 

 

 

 

Champions: Dartmouth College Arvind Shankar & Tyler Vergho

 

2nd place: University of Michigan Rafael Pierry and Giorgio Rabbini

 

Semifinalists:

University of Kansas Mickey McMahon & Michael Scott

University of Southern California Julian Kuffour & Kevin Sun

All final Results can be found here.

 

Top Speaker: Eugenia Giampetruzzi, Emory University

 

Rex Copeland Award (for top seeded team prior to the tournament): University of Michigan Rafael Pierry and Giorgio Rabbini

 

Service and Coaching Awards

The AFA congratulates the 2022 award winners recognized at this year’s National Debate Tournament!

NDT Board of Trustees Special Recognition Award to Dr. Mike Davis, Chief of Staff to the President, James Madison University.  This award is not given every year, but it is designed to recognize    someone who has provided a particular service to the tournament.

 

Lucy M. Keele Award for leadership and service to the intercollegiate debate community-Dr. David Cram-Helwich, Senior Lecturer and Director of Forensics at the University of Minnesota

 

George W. Ziegelmueller Award for Excellence in Education-Dr. Amber Kelsie, Assistant Professor of the Practice/Associate Debate Coach at Wake Forest University

 

Ross K. Smith Coach of the Year Award–John Turner, Director, Dartmouth Forensic Union

 

 

Alumni Award

2022 Tribe Award Winner: David Sutherland

 

David Sutherland, Chair of the Board of International Care Ministries, has been honored by the Board of Trustees of the National Debate Tournament, with the 2021 Laurence H. Tribe Award for Excellence in Public Advocacy.

The award, named after 1961 NDT champion Laurence H. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard University, is given annually to an alumna of the National Debate Tournament who has taken advocacy skills acquired through participation in intercollegiate debate and become an exemplary public advocate who makes a real difference in the world.

Sutherland was a decorated debater for the University of Louisville from 1978-1982.   He qualified for the National Debate Tournament four times, reaching the semi-finals in 1981 and winning the tournament in 1982. After completing an undergraduate degree in Accounting at Louisville, he received an M.S. in Taxation from American University and a J.D. with an emphasis in International Law from the University of Virginia.

Sutherland began his career in the financial industry, most notably serving in the U.S. Treasury Department and as Morgan Stanley’s Chief Financial Officer in the Asia Pacific region. In 1999, he became the Chair of the Board of International Care Ministries, a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring innovative, holistic solutions to the wide range of needs faced by families living in ultra-poverty-or less than fifty cents per person a day.

During Sutherland’s 23 years of leadership, the ICM team has successfully built a focused, effective, efficient, and scalable set of solutions that have changed the lives of over 1.4 million individuals in the Philippines. In response to the COVID crisis, ICM pivoted to provide essential hunger relief among the poor in the Philippines, distributing over 14,000,000 meals and providing essential COVID health education.  In the coming year ICM hopes to export its rigorously assessed best practices to communities in Uganda and Guatemala.

Dr. Dean Karlan, Frederic Esser Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance at Northwestern University and co-Director of the Global Poverty Research Lab, said “Dave’s compassion for those less fortunate and passion for rigorous analysis are inspiring. I hope this award likewise inspires others to take action the way Dave has to use our strengths and resources to help those less fortunate.”