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TSU Forensics Team brings home 74 awards after competing at state, national championship tournaments

March 2, 2023 Alexis Clark

Submitted by TSU staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The Tennessee State University Forensics Team had a fantastic two weeks, competing at the Tennessee State Championship Tournament, and the HBCU National Competition where the team aimed to defend their three-peat national title run.

In the back-to-back weekend tournaments, the team brought home a total of 74 awards.

Tennessee State University Forensics Team competes at the Tennessee State Championship Tournament and the HBCU National Competition, winning a total of 74 awards.

The State competition took place at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, from Feb. 18–19. More than any other group, the team won an astonishing eight state championships out of the twelve events offered.

1^st place results from TSU Forensics Team students were:

1st Place Rhetorical Criticism

Maya McClary

1st Place Prose Interpretation

Chase Garrett

1st Place Program Of Oral Interpretation

Chase Garrett

1st Place Poetry Interpretation

De’Traelyn Hubbard

1st Place Radio Broadcasting

Akyra McDougal

1st Place Duo Interpretation

Aaron Anderson & Dwight DeBerry

1st Place Dramatic Interpretation

Aaron Anderson

1st Place Top Individual Competitor

Aaron Anderson

The HBCU National Championship was held this past weekend at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia from Feb 23-28. This year’s race was extremely close, and although the team fell short by six points to Howard University, the team departed as the most decorated team with eight national championships out of the twelve events offered. See results below:

1^st and 2^nd place results from TSU Forensics Team students were:

1st Place Prose Interpretation

Akyra McDougal

1st Place Program of Oral Interpretation

Aaron Anderson

1st Place Poetry Interpretation

Ashlynn Freeman

1st Place Informative Speaking

Aliyah Holmes

1st Place Duo Interpretation

Aaron Anderson & Dwight DeBerry

1st Place Dramatic Interpretation

Ayana Nicholes

1st Place Slam Poetry

Iyanna Brazzile

1st Place Overall Individual Event Sweeps

2nd Place Overall Tournament Sweepstakes

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TSU Debate and Forensics Team No. 1 Nationwide among HBCUs, wins 3rd consecutive championship

April 13, 2022 Emmanuel Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The Tennessee State University Debate and Forensics Team is number 1 among HBCUs in the nation. At the recent 5th Annual HBCU National Speech and Debate Competition at Prairie View A&M University, TSU walked away with 10 national titles, 50 total awards and the overall tournament championship, making them the top HBCU in the country for the third consecutive year.

TSU’s Debate and Forensics Team members, from left (sitting): Aliyah Holmes, Marshaun Adams, Akyra McDougal, Sanae Chestnut, Ashlynn Freeman, Mark Twyman, Deja Thomas, Ayana Nichole, Chase Garrett and Maya McClary. Back row (standing): Mariah Brown, De’Traelyn Hubbard, Elizabeth Ward, Dwight DeBerry and DezNeshia Glasper. (Submitted photo)

“I started three years ago not winning at any tournament and now to being a three-time national champion is phenomenal,” said team captain Maya McClary, a senior mass communications major from Orlando, Florida. “My experience on the team has been life changing. Forensics has taught me to use my speech as an outlet to express myself. I would not change anything or anyone on this team.”

Ashlynn Freeman, a sophomore and first-year member of the team, said this championship is special because it gave her a voice she didn’t have before.

“As a young African American woman, I feel constantly that I have no voice in the world because I am shown not to be heard,” said Freeman, an agricultural science major from Kansas City, Kansas. “With the platform that speech and debate give me, I’m being heard.”

This year, the tournament returned to in-person, after going virtual the last two years due to the pandemic. Other institutions participating in the tournament April 1-3 included Howard University, Texas Southern University and North Carolina A&T.

Prof. Sean Allen, director of forensics in the TSU Department of Communications, is the coach of the TSU debate team. He attributes the success of the group to the “hard work” of the students and to the support of the communications department.

“This win was a group effort,” said Allen, who has been with the program at the university for the last six years. “This couldn’t have been achieved without the support from the communications department and university competitions like the Robert N Murrell Oratorical Competition, where I recruit top talent.”

Dr. Jacqueline W. Mitchell, professor and chair of the Oratorical competition, congratulated the team for their championship, and thanked Prof. Allen for his commitment.

“The TSU Forensics Team, #1 nationally ranked, consistently outranks competing HBCUs year after year under the coaching of Professor Sean Allen,” said Mitchell, who also chairs the Robert N. Murrell Oratorical Contest. “Because of this national reputation which we’ve held for several years, we attract annually the top high school debaters across the nation to our freshman class. They all want to be a part of a top-seeded winning team, which TSU provides at the highest level.”

For more information on the TSU Forensics and Debate Team, visit https://www.tnstate.edu/Communications/forensics.aspx

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a premier, historically black university and land-grant institution offering 39 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs, and eight doctoral degrees. TSU is a comprehensive research intensive institution with a R-2 Carnegie designation, and has a graduate school on its downtown Avon Williams Campus, along with the Otis Floyd Nursery Research Center in McMinnville, Tennessee. With a commitment to excellence, Tennessee State University provides students with a quality education in a nurturing and innovative environment that prepares them as alumni to be global leaders in every facet of society. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

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TSU Forensics team named national champions, top HBCU team in the country for second consecutive year

March 16, 2021 Lucas Johnson

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University’s Forensics team was recently named the overall national champions and the top HBCU speech and debate team in the country for the second consecutive year.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s HBCU National Speech and Debate Championship was held virtually Feb. 27-28. It featured 14 historically black colleges and universities. In addition to the overall win, TSU’s team walked away with 10 national championship titles, 54 total awards, and the top overall speaker in the tournament for the fourth consecutive year.

“The coaching staff and I are so proud of these students and what they were able to accomplish this season during a time like this,” said Sean Allen, a professor and TSU’s Director of Forensics. “The switch from traveling during the year to suddenly learning to compete virtually was not an easy feat for the students nor the coaches. Not to mention, most of our practice sessions had to be done virtually. Keeping these students motivated was challenging, but they ultimately came together for their love of the activity and were able to make their best showing at the tournament to date.”

TSU sophomore Maya McClary placed first in the “Persuasive Speaking” category. She talked about the impact COVID-19 has had on prison systems, particularly the disparity in the death rate among black and white inmates. Statistics show 60 percent of inmates dying from the coronavirus are African American.

McClary said adjusting to competing virtually was challenging, but she credited coaches Allen and TSU Professor Earnest Mack with preparing the students to compete, regardless of the circumstance.

“Our coaches do a great job of making sure we’re left with little room for excuses,” said McClary, a mass communications major from Orlando, Florida. “During this pandemic, it was very difficult. But our coaches always require the best out of us. Because of our work ethic, it allowed us to do well.”

Dr. Samantha Morgan-Curtis, Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at TSU, said the Forensics team’s success once again “showcases TSU excellence.”

“These results demonstrate the continued commitment of our faculty and students to lift student voices and their presence in the world,” said Morgan-Curtis.

Dr. Tameka Winston, Mass Communications Department Chair and Associate Vice President at TSU, agreed.

“Our talented students continue to display excellence and I’m so proud of their hard work,” said Winston. “I had the opportunity to attend the virtual championship this year and our students represented the university and the department well. Our wonderful coaches prepared our students to consistently produce and operate on the highest level. The next goal is to earn this title in 2022 and continue to take our team and the forensics area to new heights.”

Other Forensics team members that placed top in their categories include: Trey Gibson, “After Dinner Speaking”, “Poetry Interpretation”, and “Overall Individual Speaker”; Tayneria Gooden, “Program of Oral Interpretation”; Tayneria Gooden and Kierstan Tate, “Duo Interpretation”; Trae Hubbard, “Prose Interpretation”; and Chase Garrett, “Dramatic Interpretation”.

The TSU Forensics team, which claimed first place in “Individual Event Champions” and “Overall Tournament Champions”, will end their season April 16-20 at the National Forensics Association competition, an elite national tournament where students must qualify throughout the year to compete. For the first time in the team’s history, every member of the TSU team secured a qualification to compete in the competition.

To learn more about TSU’s Forensics team and the Department of Communications, visit https://www.tnstate.edu/communications/forensics.aspx.

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

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TSU Debaters Rank Among The Top In The Country At National Tournament

April 7, 2015 Emmanuel Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The Tennessee State University Forensics Team argued its way to success at the International Public Debate Association’s 2015 National Tournament hosted at Boise State University March 27-29.

ForensicsF — Kavon Coleman, left, Barbara Dudley, Ricky Madden, and Kevon Graves will travel next to Portland, Oregon to compete in the American Forensic Association National Tournament, and Athens, Ohio, in the National Forensic Association National Tournament.

Sophomores Ricky Madden, from Kansas City, Missouri, and Barbra Dudley, from Indianapolis, both advanced to elimination rounds. Madden, competing in the Novice Division, advanced to triple-octafinals before being eliminated by the eventual national champion, Middle Tennessee State University student, Leigh Stanfield. Dudley advanced to Quarterfinals in the Professional division, finishing in a tie for fifth place in the tournament with season-long national champion Allison Pulliam of Union University.

“This is only the second year that TSU has had a debate team and they continue to perform exceptionally well,” said Adam Key, assistant director of Forensics and debate coach. “Last year, we had students ranked in the top 32 competitors in the Novice Division. This year, we had a student ranked in the top five of the organization’s toughest division.”

In addition to being ranked among the top competitors in the division, Dudley was the only competitor to defeat the tournament national champion, Chris Brown of the University of Arkansas at Monticello, at any point during the national tournament. Brown, who earned his fourth national title at the tournament, was complimentary of Dudley.

“She did great in our round,” Brown said. “I was really impressed.”

Also participating in competition were Kevon Graves, a freshman from Kansas City, Missouri, who competed in the Professional Division, and Kavon Coleman, a sophomore from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who was the team judge.

According to Key, both students were instrumental in the team’s success.

“We prepare cases as a team,” Key said. “Whether the student left with a trophy or not, every member of our team is responsible for our success.”

The IPDA National Tournament was the last outing for the TSU debate team for the year. The team will travel next to Portland, Oregon to compete in the American Forensic Association National Tournament, and Athens, Ohio, for the National Forensic Association National Tournament.

TSU debaters argue their way to success in first tournament

October 9, 2014 Emmanuel Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The Tennessee State University Forensics team began the 2014-2015 season with success in debate at the University of Arkansas at Monticello “Weevil Wars” debate tournament in Monticello, Arkansas on October 3-5.

TSU forensics debaters, Ricky Madden (L) and Barbara Dudley , advanced to elimination rounds in the Novice division of the Weevil Wars debate tournament held at the University of Arkansas. It was the debate team's first tournament of the year where they competed against more than 100 students from 15 different universities. (courtesy photo) — TSU forensics debaters, Ricky Madden (L) and Barbara Dudley , advanced to elimination rounds in the Novice division of the Weevil Wars debate tournament held at the University of Arkansas. It was the debate team’s first tournament of the year where they competed against more than 100 students from 15 different universities. (courtesy photo)

Competing against more than 100 students from 15 universities including Jackson State University, Union University and Louisiana State University at Shreveport, Barbra Dudley, a sophomore Economics major from Indianapolis, and Ricky Madden, a Kansas City freshman majoring in Criminal justice , advanced to the elimination rounds in the Novice division of the tournament.

Madden, who won five of six preliminary rounds, was eliminated in double-octafinals. Dudley was successful in two elimination rounds and finished ranked among the top eight competitors in the tournament as a quarterfinalist.

“I’m very happy to see this much progress from our students,” debate coach Adam Key said. “If we can continue on this track, I have no doubt we’ll see success on a national level sooner than later.”

The team will next compete this weekend at the University of Alabama “Crimson Classic” individual events tournament in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, before returning to host its annual “Music City Swing” tournament featuring both debate and individual events on October 17-19 on the Tennessee State University campus.

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 42 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

NEWS

TSU Forensics Team Finishes Fourth At Weekend Tournament

February 11, 2014 Emmanuel Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Members of the TSU Forensics Team traveled to Murray State University and talked their way into a fourth place finishes in the Large Entry Sweepstakes of the MSU Ruby Krider and Alumni Swing Invitational Tournaments Feb. 7-9. The team also captured 18 individual awards.

“This is an amazing win, especially with so many new members on the team,” said Shaunté Caraballo, director of Forensics. “We couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Results from “Ruby Krider” Swing, Saturday, Feb. 8:

First year team member, senior, Michael Thomas won third place in the Pentathalon, a special award for individuals who compete in five or more events. This is the most difficult category to win. Thomas also won third place in Radio Broadcasting, first place in Novice Impromptu, and first place in Novice Persuasive Speaking.

Sophomore Mass Communications major, Delvakio Brown won fourth place in Radio Broadcasting, third place in Novice Impromptu, and fourth place in Novice Prose Interpretation.

Freshman Accounting major, Janet Jordan took second place in Novice Poetry.

Results from the Alumni Swing, Sunday, Feb. 9:

Michael Thomas won first place in Radio Broadcasting, second place in Novice Impromptu, second place in Novice Persuasive, and sixth place in Varsity Programmed Oral Interpretation.

Delvakio Brown won third place in Radio Broadcasting and third place in Novice Prose Interpretation.

Freshman Economics major, Barbra Dudley, won seventh place in Novice Impromptu.

Janet Jordan won third place in Novice Poetry Interpretation.

Junior Aeronautical Engineering major, Tyler Kinloch not only served as coach for Radio Broadcasting, but also won sixth place in Varsity Prose Interpretation.

The Forensics team will now head to East Tennessee State University to compete in the Tennessee Intercollegiate Forensics Association Championships Feb. 14-16.

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

NEWS

TSU Forensic Team Captures Back-To-Back Wins

November 19, 2013 Emmanuel Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Members of the Tennessee State University Forensics team traveled to the bayou state recently to compete in the 39^th Annual Red River Swing Debate and Forensic tournament in Shreveport, La.

Competing in their first International Public Debate Association tournament, the team competed in the event Nov. 8-10 at Louisiana State University-Shreveport and joined nearly 30 other programs, colleges and universities from around the country.

“Our debate team is off to a great start,” said Director of Forensics, Shaunte Caraballo. “I look forward to increasing the size and success of our newly added debate team.”

The teams competed in two separate tournaments involving 11 speaking and interpretive events, and one tournament involving three different debate formats over the three-day tournament.

TSU’s Artrisa Fulton, a Criminal Justice major, was the team’s big winner. The senior from West Palm Beach, Fla., was the Octafinalist in the IPDA. She also captured third place in the Dramatic Interpretation category. Michael Thomas, a senior Accounting major from Memphis, Tenn., won 6^th place in the Persuasive Speaking category.

Building on their successes, the team traveled to Jefferson City, Tenn., a week later for the Tennessee Porch Swing at Carson Newman University Nov. 15-17.

First year team member, Michael Thomas won 1st place and Top Novice in Persuasive Speaking at the second half of the swing. Assistant Directors of Forensics, Adam Key and Jeremy Coffman jumped up and hugged each other when the award was announced.

“It is extremely rare for a novice to win such a high award,” said Key.

Thomas also won Top Novice in Programmed Oral Interpretation, along with Fulton, who took 4th place in Dramatic Interpretation. They are both just one win away from qualifying for the national tournament held at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz.

The Forensics team will next head to Ohio State University for the Holiday Frolic in December.

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.