Members of the Speech and Debate team competed in the Barkley Forum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Columbia Invitational at Columbia University in New York City the weekend of Jan. 27 and 28.

At the Columbia Invitational, four Public Forum teams advanced to elimination rounds. Juniors Joanna Papaioannou and Clara Koritz Hawkes and seniors Danielle Hazan and Katherine Sylvester advanced to double-octofinals—the top 32 teams. Seniors Elizabeth Hepburn and Hannah Feuer advanced to quarterfinals—the top 8 teams—and seniors Azraf Khan and Zoe Kaufmann advanced to the semifinals, falling one round short of finals. Hepburn and Feuer earned a gold bid to the Tournament of Champions, and Khan and Kaufmann completed their qualification.

The Emory tournament was extremely competitive, with a pool consisting of many debaters who were already qualified for the Tournament of Champions, and Whitman did not receive any awards.

For some debaters, the Barkley Forum was still a successful experience, as it allowed them to practice with new partners.

“I personally did pretty well, it was the first time with my partner David Villani,” junior Allie Rosenstein said. “It was really nice to work with him and learn how to work together.”

For more information on the Speech and Debate team, as well as explanations of the various events, click here.

Multiple members of the debate team are staff on the Black & White.