2020-2021 Academic Year

Handful of UCSD Speech & Debate Team Novices Win Big 

As the third season of the UCSD Speech & Debate Team comes to a close, the team members are largely experienced now—competing mostly at the Junior or Open Division levels. However, new team members  (novices) join every Quarter. 

On Saturday and Sunday, May 1 and 2, eight novices from the UCSD Speech & Debate Team competed in the 2021 Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensics Association (PSCFA) “Cool Off” Novice Tournament. Amidst the  California schools were also institutions from Wyoming, Washington, and Arizona. 

Our small contingent, however, captured both the 2nd Place Sweepstakes Award (All Speech and Debate Events) for 4-Year Schools and 2nd Place Sweepstakes Award for the entire Tournament. 

It is very rare when an NPDA (two-on-two debate) team scores high in speaker points, yet does not reach the elimination rounds of the tournament. Such happened to UCSD’s team of Kiera Hasan and Aryaman Pachori. Both competitors finished at the very top of the rankings among speakers, as Aryaman Pachori earned the tournament’s 1st Place Speaker Award, while partner, Kiera Hasan, earned 2nd Place. 

Another anomaly—a sad one—happened to UCSD’s sole IPDA (one-on-one debate) competitor. An error in the Tabulation Room of the Tournament caused the stellar, qualifying results of Isaiah Sun to be overlooked. Thus, he was accidentally not advanced to the elimination rounds. Given the impact of this error, the Tournament properly awarded Isaiah Sun a Gold Medal Award (1st Place). 

In Sunday’s Speech events, both Kaitlyn Chin (Informative Speech) and Lisa Nguyen (Extemporaneous Speech) were finalists. 

The overall points acquired by all competitors yielded the dual Sweepstakes Awards. 

Head Coach Robert Campbell observed, “This was a somewhat unusual tournament and the error in IPDA  tabulation was, indeed, unfortunate. Nevertheless, the winning tradition of UCSD Speech & Debate was maintained as the 2020-21 season comes to a close. To me, it is just amazing how so few competitors, who consistently work so hard to excel, can capture Sweepstakes Awards that are being vied for by 22 schools!” 

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management.

UCSD Dominates at 2021 PSCFA Spring Championships Tournament

Pick your metal—Bronze, Silver, Gold—you name it, UCSD won it. 

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 26-28, the UCSD Speech & Debate Team descended upon the 2021 Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensics Association (PSCFA) “Spring Championships” Tournament, hosted online by Moorpark College. The Spring Championships is the organization’s “flagship” tournament, culminating the 2020-21 speech and debate season in Southern California. 

In a tour de force, the largest contingent of UCSD’s Speech & Debate Team (29) ever to attend a single tournament, won two Sweepstakes Awards (total school performance)—First Place Sweepstakes for both the entire Novice Division and 4-year School Sweepstakes for the Tournament, an achievement unprecedented in school history. Thirty-one schools–from Oregon State to Northern Virginia Community College and a host of California colleges and universities–could not stop the UCSD juggernaut. 

Repeating—but improving upon—their 2020 dominance of this tournament, UCSD moved to the top from their 3rd Place Tournament Sweepstakes Award last year. Additionally, UCSD more than doubled the team’s four awards in Speech Events in 2020 to take home 10 Speech Awards in 2021. 

In NPDA (two-on-two debate) competition, the team of Kiera Hasan and Aryaman Pachori were entered in the Novice Division. But, due to limited entries, this team was forced to compete in the more advanced Junior  Division, yet still captured the Bronze Award for 3rd Place. Individual speaker awards went to Jose Chavez (4th Place) and his partner, Daniel Barquero (7th Place), and to Aryaman Pachori (9th Place). 

In IPDA (one-on-one debate) competition, Joshanne Chiang captured the Gold Medal (1st Place), while teammates, Courtney Chan and Srijan Chakraborty, shared the Bronze Medal (3rd Place). 

In the Individual Speech Events, UCSD won awards in all three Divisions. 

In the Open (Senior) Division, Alex Zhao, who was a proud Finalist in the Cultural Artifact event last year,  defeated all competitors to win the Gold Medal (1st Place) this year. Another Finalist from the lower Junior Division last year, Christian Kim, improved to capture the Silver Medal (2nd Place) in Open Impromptu this year. Sarah Kagzi garnered 6th Place in Extemporaneous Speech and Alex Zhao was a Finalist in  Communication Analysis. 

In the Junior Division, Sarah Chittle captured 4th Place in Prose. 

In the Novice Division, the Gold Medal (1st Place) in Persuasive Speaking went to Nikita Prasad, while Chris Ehrman took home Bronze (3rd Place) in Prose. Kaitlyn Chin rose to 4th Place in Informative Speech. Oscar Martinez and Lisa Nguyen rounded out UCSD’s Speech Awards with their Impromptu Speeches—4th and 6th Places, respectively.

Head Coach Robert Campbell remarked, “It was an amazing weekend for a team just in its third year of intercollegiate competition. We resolved, as a team, that we would take this tournament by storm.  Dramatically surpassing last year’s stellar performance rewards this hard-working set of students, who  represent UCSD with such pride and poise.” 

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management.

Debaters Win Tabor-Venitsky Tournament 

This Valentine’s weekend, two UCSD Speech & Debate Team members stole the hearts of the judges to earn  First Place at the Tabor-Venitsky Speech and Debate Tournament, hosted in cyberspace by Cerritos College, February 12-14. Rising to the top of the competing 15 schools, Joseph Berck and Samyak Karnavat took home the Gold in NPDA (two-on-two) debate. 

In the Speech events, Farah Farouq rose to 4th Place in the Novice Division of Impromptu Speaking, while Christian Kim, competing in the Open (Senior) Division, earned 8th Place. 

In Open Division of Extemporaneous Speaking, Christian Kim secured 5th Place and teammate, Tyler Jang, was close behind in 7th Place. 

Head Coach, Robert Campbell, remarked, “The NPDA Gold win was extra special, as our ambitious team of  Berck and Karnavat are just now climbing in Divisional competition and growing stronger. We are now ready for the upcoming PSCFA Spring Champions Tourney in two weeks.” 

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management.

UCSD’s Speech & Debate Speakers Shine in UCLA Tournament 

On Saturday and Sunday, January 30 & 31, the “debate side” of UCSD’s Speech and Debate Team competed online in UCLA’s Bruin Classic Debate Tournament—the Westwood university’s first tournament as host in a very long time. The tournament consisted solely of Open (Senior) Division NPDA (two-on-two) debate. The tournament was attended by top teams from UC Berkeley, University of Minnesota, and Penn State University, among others. 

UCSD’s team of Bella Lalanne and Nikhil Emde rose to the Quarterfinals. Other UCSD teams came very close to the Elimination Rounds. This was especially the case for Samyak Karnavat and Joseph Berck, who both were top speakers in the tournament. Berck finished Fourth and  Karnavat followed right behind in Fifth Place among all tournament competitors in speaker points, but fell just short of qualifying for Eliminations. The Tournament Director even observed that he had never seen two debaters acquire so many speaker points, yet end up losing Rounds—such is a very rare phenomenon. 

Meanwhile, John Melton finished in 9th Place and Nikhil Emde ended in 10th Place among tournament speakers. 

Head Coach, Robert Campbell, summarized, “This tournament attracted some top teams and several of our competitors are only novices, yet UCSD reached the final 8 teams standing. The situation with our Berck and Karnavat team was exceptionally unusual. Usually, when you are a  top speaker, you win debate rounds. But, rarely, ‘low-point’ wins are granted lesser speakers on some debate tactic anomaly. Nevertheless, Berck and Karnavat are poised for their future in  NPDA competitions coming right up. As usual, all of our teams strongly represented UCSD, and  the Quarterfinal achievement by Lalanne and Emde was frosting on our cake.” 

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management.

UCSD’s Speech & Debate Team “Sweeps Up” to Begin 2021 

Led by the Speech Events Participants—in their most productive performance since the Team’s re-invigoration in 2018—UCSD’s Speech & Debate Team garnered Tournament Sweepstakes Honors in both of the first two tournaments of 2021. 

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, January 15, 16, and 17, the Team competed online in the University of Texas  El Paso (UTEP) Classic (Friday) and the University of Utah’s Great Salt Lake (GSL) Invitational (Saturday and Sunday) tournaments. Thirty-five colleges and universities—only seven of which competed in both tournaments—included institutions far and wide from University of Wyoming (Laramie) to the University of  Nebraska-Lincoln to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs to North Central College (Naperville, Illinois) to Idaho State (Pocatello), and many California institutions alongside the host schools. 

In the UTEP tournament, UCSD earned the 2nd Place Sweepstakes Trophy for Four-Year Schools. At the GSL, UCSD was awarded 2nd Place in the All Schools/Both-Tournaments-Combined competition. 

At the UTEP tournament, in the Junior Division of IPDA (one-on-one) debate, Akshat Donti, UCSD’s Speech &  Debate Team’s Captain, won Silver (2nd Place). 

In the Speech events, all competitors, regardless of experience, were placed in the highest Division: Open.  But that did not inhibit the young speakers from UCSD. Elizabeth Luchinski won 1st Place in Dramatic  Interpretation, while Alex Zhao grabbed 3rd Place in Communication Analysis. 

In Informative, Joshanne Chiang rose to 3rd Place, with teammates Alex Zhao (5th) and Kimothy Wong (6th) close behind. In Impromptu, Farah Farouq captured 4th Place and Tyler Jang earned 7th Place. 

In Extemp, Sarah Kagzi took home the 3rd Place award and Tyler Jang earned 6th Place. In Prose, Tiffany Nguyen came in 4th Place with Ivy Chang right behind in 5th Place. 

At the GSL, In Junior Division IPDA debate, Oscar Martinez reached the Quarterfinals. 

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Luchinski continued her winning ways by capturing 3rd Place in Dramatic Interpretation. In Impromptu, Tyler Jang finished in 2nd Place, while his teammate, Christian Kim finished in 3rd Place.  Continuing to win, but reversing their positions, in Extemp, Christian Kim grabbed the 2nd Place award and Tyler Jang earned 6th Place. 

Head Coach, Robert Campbell, observed, “You couldn’t ask for better results for the start of 2021. Nothing  appears to slow down this team. We truly are honored by Sweepstakes Awards, as it continues to put UCSD  Speech & Debate on the national map.” 

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management.

UCSD’s Speech & Debate Team Wins Awards at TWO Tournaments to close out the Fall  Quarter of the 2020-21 Season 

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, December 4, 5, and 6, UCSD’s Speech & Debate Team competed in both the Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensics Association (PSCFA) Fall Champions–and the Seattle U. British Parliamentary—tournaments. 

At the PSCFA tourney, 42 schools converged in cyberspace to partake in NPDA and IPDA debate, along with a  full array of speech events. Amidst a horde of California schools was the University of Utah, Grand Canyon  University, and the University of Nevada-Reno. 

Although falling short of the Elimination Rounds in NPDA (two-on-two) debate in the Open (Senior) Division,  Nikhil Emde grabbed the 3rd Place Speaker Award in the event, while Jack Walsh garnered 6th Place. 

In the Novice Division of IPDA (one-on-one) debate, Oscar Martinez won Gold (1st Place) with Grace Ji’s Silver medal right behind in 2nd Place. 

Alex Zhao achieved Finalist status in two speech events: Novice Division Informative and Open Division Communication Analysis. 

With just 16 competitors, UCSD still captured the 4th Place Sweepstakes Award for Four-Year Schools. 

Meanwhile, at a separate tournament sponsored by the University of Seattle–featuring only the British  Parliamentary format of debate–three UCSD teams (six debaters) competed against 53 schools, including  Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, and Vanderbilt. 

The team of Sarah Chittle and Matthew Uzelac climbed to 10th Place in the Open Division, while Joshanne  Chiang and Arunav Gupta finished in 11th Place in the ranking of all Divisions combined as they reached the  Quarterfinals of the Open Division. Ms. Chiang won 3rd Place among Novice Division Speakers, while Mr. Gupta won 4th Place among Open Division Speakers. 

Head Coach, Robert Campbell, capped the Quarter’s results by saying, “Closing out the Quarter by attending two tournaments simultaneously was a logistical challenge, but it typified how this team has faced all the challenges of 2020. The pandemic has changed the venue, but not the winning results.” 

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management.

Another “First” for UCSD’s Speech & Debate Team—Simultaneous Victories on Two  Continents 

For the first time in school history, UCSD’s Speech & Debate Team entered competitions in two tournaments on the same weekend. But, in the innovative style this team has grown to portray, the dual tournaments were not limited to just North America. 

On Friday and Saturday, November 13-14, three UCSD Debate teams took on 191 other teams online around the world to compete in the Oxford British Parliamentary Debate Invitational. Four of UCSD’s debaters were in southern California, while two others were home in India and Bangladesh. Just a small sample of the countries competing included China, Malaysia, Poland, England, Scotland, India, Israel, Serbia, and the  Philippines. 

Although the UCSD teams did not reach the elimination rounds, victories were scored—just to name a few– over Nottingham University and St. Andrews from the United Kingdom, University of Dhaka from Bangladesh,  Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and York University from Ontario, Canada. 

Meanwhile, back in the states, the UCSD Speech & Debate Team competed against 30 schools at the Griffin  Invitational Tournament, hosted online by Grossmont College, on November 13-15. Tulane and Dillard from  New Orleans, and the University of the Cumberlands out of Williamsburg, Kentucky joined a host of California schools. 

In the Open Division of IPDA (one-on-one) debate, Joshanne Chiang, a freshman who, only a tournament ago, competed in the Novice Division, captured Third Place. 

In the Speech Events, UCSD placed high in both the Open (Senior) and Novice Divisions. 

In the Open Division—competing for the first time ever in the event—Jose Chavez earned 3rd Place in Extemporaneous Speech. 

Additionally, this was the first tournament wherein UCSD entered multiple competitors (4) in “theatre skills”  events. In the Open Division, Elizabeth Luchinski seized the Gold Medal for First Place in Dramatic  Interpretation, while Sarah Chittle and Myra Ashraf captured Bronze for Third Place in Dramatic Duo. In the  Novice Division, Sarah Chittle earned the Gold Medal for First Place in Prose with Ivy Chang right behind her in  Second Place. 

Head Coach, Robert Campbell, concluded with pride, “There appears to be no place on Earth that this team  cannot go, via cyberspace, and compete with the best.”

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management.

Debaters Strive/Struggle, But Fall Short in Northern Cal Tourney 

Lots of tricks, but no treats for two NPDA (two-on-two) Debate Teams, who, on Halloween, took on 36 teams from 17 schools at the Golden Gate Invitational Debate Tournament, sponsored by the University of California,  Berkeley. Numerous California schools were joined by Penn State, Rice, Texas Tech, Oregon, and the  University of Illinois. The tournament only offered the Senior (Open) Division, but that did not intimidate our ambitious teams, who wanted to challenge these national programs. 

Although the two teams chalked up some wins in some tough Preliminary Rounds, both fell short of reaching  Sunday’s Elimination Rounds. 

Head Coach, Robert Campbell, commented, “This is one of the very few tournaments we have attended over the past two years in which we did not succeed in reaching the Elimination Rounds. Nevertheless, both teams  grew in acumen during the tournament and were anxious to take on the next NPDA challenge.” 

In two weeks, the UCSD Speech & Debate Team will next attend “The Griffin” tournament, sponsored by  Grossmont College. 

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management and UCSD’s Office of  Student Affairs.

Freshmen Shine! UCSD’s Speech & Debate Team Wins at “October Surprise” Tourney! 

On Saturday and Sunday, October 24-25, UCSD’s Speech & Debate Team joined 20 other colleges and universities, via cyberspace, partaking in the “October Surprise” Tournament, sponsored by Mt. San Antonio  College. Amidst the California schools was Arizona State, Marshall U. from West Virginia, Illinois College, and  Northwest College from Powell, Wyoming. 

Shining in IPDA (one-on-one) debate in the Novice Division, two UCSD freshmen dominated. The tournament offered only two Gold Medals for 1st Place in the Division—UCSD took them both. (This phenomenon is called  “closing out” a tournament—when the last two standing competitors are from the same school.) 

Joshanne Chiang captured one of the Gold Medals, while freshman teammate, Wyatt Herrera, who had never participated in a debate event before, fought off all competitors to earn the other Gold Medal. 

Head Coach, Robert Campbell, quickly observed after the Awards Ceremony that Saturday night, “The support put in place to coach these novices was impressive. Bella Lalanne, the team’s IPDA student-coach, and Jack Walsh, the team’s NPDA student-coach—supplementing the previous week’s practice sessions–contributed all day with preparation guidance. Although 99% of the credit belongs to our two powerful, impressive freshmen, clearly they were grateful for the support. This was truly a team effort.” 

In Sunday’s Individual Events, UCSD placed high in both the Open (Senior) and Novice Divisions. 

In the Open Division—repeating her achievement in the prior tournament–Elizabeth Luchinski earned 3rd Place in Dramatic Interpretation. In Extemporaneous Speech, Tyler Jang captured 5th Place, while, in  Impromptu Speech, Christian Kim also achieved 5th Place. 

In the Novice Division, Ivy Chang rose to 4th Place in Prose. 

Among all the events in the tournament, the most entries in any one event (25) competed in Impromptu Speech in the Novice Division. UCSD entered six competitors and four finished high in the rankings. Farah Farouq secured 2nd Place, followed by Courtney Chan in 3rd Place. Alex Zhao came in 5th Place and Oscar Martinez grabbed 7th Place. 

For overall team performance, UCSD won the 2nd Place Sweepstakes Award for Four-Year Schools, following Arizona State, who entered 20 competitors in the Speech events, compared to UCSD’s 16 entries.  

Campbell, concluded, “The season is off to a great start. The team is excited and skills are growing rapidly.  Nothing—even a pandemic—seems to stand in this team’s way.” 

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management and UCSD’s Office of  Student Affairs.

UCSD’s Speech & Debate Begin Third Season Right Where Team Left Off—Winning! 

The first major event of the 2020-21 season—the Crossman Invitational Speech & Debate Tournament– sponsored by El Camino College—was held online October 16, 17 and 18. The tournament drew entries from  36 schools, ranging nationwide from the University of Minnesota to the University of Oregon to the University of California Berkeley. 

With the evolution and growth of UCSD Speech & Debate comes moving up in Divisions (both from Novice up to Junior and from Junior to Open) resulting in a higher level of competition. However, UCSD’s focus on performance paid off. Sophomores Joseph Berck and Samyak Karnavat fell only in the Final Round of Junior Division of NPDA, earning 2nd Place in the tourney. For individual Speaker Awards in Junior NPDA, Avithej  Reddy took 2nd Place, while Joseph Berck earned 5th Place and Samyak Karnavak earned 9th Place. 

In the Open Division of IPDA (one-on -one debate), UCSD struck Gold (1st Place)…twice! Repeating her achievement in the Novice Division of this tournament last year, Katherine McGraw moved up to Open  Division and won the Gold Round. Similarly, Jasmine Moheb moved up from her 8th Place Speaker Award last season to also win in the Gold Round. 

In the individual speech events, UCSD also scored in the Open Division. Elizabeth Luchinski earned 3rd Place in  Dramatic Interpretation, while, in Communication Analysis, Alex Zhao and Sarah Kagzi earned 5th and 6th Places respectively. 

UCSD’s head coach, Robert Campbell, commented, “It’s always a big “unknown” when a team moves up in competition level. This season, we will be entering team members in all three division, while supporting the largest Speech & Debate Team (50+) in school history. To begin our third season with Gold Round Open  Division wins is impressive…a fitting opening for a hard-working, fun-focused, highly competitive team.” 

The UCSD Speech & Debate Team is sponsored by UCSD’s Rady School of Management and UCSD’s Office of  Student Affairs.