SMU Speech & Debate Team

12/09/2025

Our calendar 2025 report on activity-- it was a great year

Director of Debate and Speech and Professor of Rhetoric Dr Ben Voth explains the activities of the SMU Debate and Speech program for calendar year 2025.

08/28/2025

Practices start tonight. Please come check us out

03/10/2025

Senior Eric Ryan won second speaker overall at the International Forensics Association tournament in Seoul South Korea March 8-9. He finished second among 45 competitors in IPDA debate. Senior Evangeline Bulick was 15th speaker. Eric finished among the top 16 debaters in the world at all four of his international competitions in Mexico City, Tokyo, Dublin and Seoul.

02/11/2025

SMU debate took 18 competitors to the Dallas Baptist University debate tournament (February 7-9) and took Second place overall behind Abilene Christian University. SMU won the championship for the professional division that allows coaches, undergraduates and graduated professionals compete against each other. SMU’s champion— a Dallas area attorney, Brandt Vernon— is also the 2024 National Champion in professional division debate. Megan Watson was a finalist in the junior varsity division of the tournament. New SMU debater and first year student Sarah Tadesse was a semifinalist in Novice debate along with Sophia Graham. New SMU debater Atina Nikpour was an octafinalist in novice.

Sophia Graham was the top speaker in novice. Atina Nikpour was the fifth speaker in novice. Paul Wuller was the second speaker in the junior varsity division. Brandt Vernon was the second speaker in the professional division.

12/30/2024

Check out our 3 minute video summary of 2024:

SMU debate activity during the 2024 calendar year. This includes our public debates, tournament competitions, special academic activities and international ...

10/27/2024

Proud of the SMU debaters winning the junior varsity championship and the team varsity championship here in Tulsa. All the students are doing a great job from varsity to novice.

We do more debate on Sunday.

10/08/2024

Won the debate sweepstakes title and novice championship. Great job mustangs!

10/08/2024

Won the UTD/TCU DFW Swing debate tournament.

09/30/2024

I will provide national pre-debate commentary on C-SPAN for the Walz/Vance VP debate from 7pm to 7:15 central time. Feel free to watch me there.

I will also be on campus at SMU by 7:30 to moderate and present for our VP debate watch party.

C-SPAN’s preview of the ABC News presidential debate between Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republi…

09/26/2024

Feel free to join me next week for a debate watch party event at Dallas Hall on Tuesday evening October 1. I will give a pre lecture and then facilitate audience comments and balloting at the end.

09/22/2024

We advanced two debaters to the octafinalist of junior varsity debate at Lee College

09/20/2024

My analysis in The Hill about presidential debate moderation.

Maybe I need to do another about the Cruz Alred debate too.

ABC News moderators Lindsey Davis and David Muir fact-checked former President Donald Trump during a presidential debate, raising questions about the impartiality of media network debate events and…