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TSU to host Pi Kappa Delta National Forensics Tournament

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University will host the Pi Kappa Delta National Forensics Tournament March 14-17.

TSU’s award-winning Forensics team. (submitted photo)

Nearly 90 schools, with roughly 1,500 competitors, are expected to participate. It will be the first time in nearly two decades that a historically black college or university has hosted the tournament.

“For us to be hosting the national tournament is such a big deal,” says Sean Allen, TSU’s director of Forensics. “It’s the oldest, it’s the largest, it’s the most prestigious.”

TSU’s forensics team, which is having a record-breaking year, is looking forward to participating in the tournament, says Allen, who was an award-winning member of the Forensics team at Wiley College, which was the subject of the 2007 movie, “The Great Debaters”.

Last month, TSU’s team competed at the Tennessee Intercollegiate Forensics Association state tournament.  It had been six years since the team won the state tournament, but it brought the championship back home. The team walked away with a total of 51 awards.

TSU freshman and Forensic member Jazmyn Bolden won several awards at the competition. The Houston, Texas native, who has been in Forensics since her freshman year in high school, says she’s excited about this month’s tournament, and proud that TSU is hosting it.

“It’s exciting because it’s being held at an HBCU,” says Bolden. “And it’s a big tournament.”

To learn more about TSU’s Forensics team, visit http://www.tnstate.edu/Communications/forensics.aspx

Find out more about Pi Kappa Delta at https://www.speechanddebate.org/pkd/

Department of Media Relations

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

About Tennessee State University

With more than 8,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 bachelor’s degree programs, 25 master’s degree programs and seven doctoral degrees. 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.

FEATURED, NEWS

TSU Debate Team Thrives at State Championship

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – It’s been a busy few months for the Forensics team at Tennessee State University and they have the proof of their endeavors. They won more than 50 awards in February alone and now boast one of the “Best Speakers” in the state.

The Forensics team continues their winning ways bringing home 50 awards during February and the "Best Speaker" in the state. Members of the team include: Top row (L-R): Aaron Walker, John Nix, Kavon Coleman, and Tyler Kinloch Bottom Row (L-R): Ricky Madden, Shaylyn Rice, Ashley Doxy, Tyra Laster, Tristan Halfacre, Kevon Graves (courtesy photo)
The Forensics team continues their winning ways bringing home 50 awards during February and the “Best Speaker” in the state. Members of the team include: Top row (L-R): Aaron Walker, John Nix, Kavon Coleman, and Tyler Kinloch Bottom Row (L-R): Ricky Madden, Shaylyn Rice, Ashley Doxy, Tyra Laster, Tristan Halfacre, Kevon Graves (courtesy photo)

This semester the 11-member team of undergraduate students have netted impressive results, bringing home awards wherever they compete. Nowhere was this more prevalent than at the recent Tennessee Intercollegiate Forensics State Championship when they placed third in the state and brought home 28 more awards. The team also placed third in combined debate and Individual Events School Sweepstakes.

More than 100 students gathered at TSU Feb. 14-15 to see who would be crowned the “best of the best” in the state. John Nix, a junior Political Science major from Franklin, Tennessee, took home the coveted first place Pentathlon speaker, qualifying him for the “Best Speaker in the State.” Nix also won numerous awards including third place Persuasive Speaking, Top Novice Persuasive Speaking, first place Poetry Interpretation, Top Novice Poetry Interpretation, first place Prose Interpretation, Top Novice Prose Interpretation, third place Impromptu Speaking, Top Novice Impromptu Speaking, NPDA Novice Semi-Finalist, and fifth place Novice NPDA speaker.

Other team winners included:

  • Kevon Graves, freshman Urban Studies major, Kansas City, Missouri – NPDA Novice Semi-Finalist, fourth place Novice NPDA Speaker
  • Kavon Coleman, junior Civil Engineering major, Grand Rapids, Michigan – third place International Public Debate Association Varsity Speaker
  • Shaylyn Rice, junior Mass Communications major, Birmingham, Alabama – second place Poetry Interpretation, second place Dramatic Interpretation, Top Novice Dramatic Interpretation, fifth place Programmed Oral Interpretation, first place Radio Broadcasting, Top Novice Radio Broadcasting
  • Aaron Walker, junior English major, Memphis, Tennessee – third place Poetry Interpretation
  • Tyler Kinloch, senior Aeronautical Engineering major, Canton, Michigan – fourth place Prose Interpretation, first place Dramatic Interpretation
  • Tyra Laster, junior Mass Communications major, Marietta, Georgia – second place Radio Broadcasting
  • Tyra Laster and Ashley Doxy, sophomore Biology and Chemistry major, Chicago – fourth place Duo Interpretation
  • Shaylyn Rice and Aaron Walker – first place Duo Interpretation, Top Novice Duo Interpretation

This was the second competition during February for the team, having earned 22 awards at the Jackson-Purchase Swing at Murray State University Feb. 6-8.

Award winners included:

Friday, Feb. 6 – National Parliamentary Debate Association tournament (NPDA)

  • Fifth place team sweepstakes in NPDA
  • Tyler Kinloch and Barbra Dudley – semifinalists in Novice NPDA
  • John Nix and Kevon Graves – quarterfinalists in Novice NPDA
  • Tyler Kinloch – fifth place novice NPDA speaker
  • Barbra Dudley, sophomore economics major from Indianapolis – eighth place Novice NPDA speaker

Saturday, Feb. 7 – MSU Swing

  • Third place Small School Sweepstakes
  • John Nix – fourth place Extemporaneous Speaking, first place Poetry Interpretation, sixth place Pentathlon Speaker
  • Shaylyn Rice – sixth place Poetry Interpretation
  • Kevon Graves – fourth place novice Extemporaneous Speaking

Sunday, Feb. 8 – Alumni swing

  • Second place Small School Sweepstakes
  • John Nix – fourth place Persuasive Speaking, first place Poetry Interpretation, sixth place Pentathlon Speaker
  • Tyler Kinloch – sixth place Dramatic Interpretation
  • Shaylyn Rice – first place Radio Broadcasting
  • Kevon Graves – third place Novice Impromptu Speaking, first place Novice Extemporaneous Speaking
  • Shaylyn Rice and Aaron Walker – fifth place Duo Interpretation

The TSU Forensics Team closed out the month attending the Rock & Roll Swing at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Feb. 27-March 1.

 

Department of Media Relations

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

About Tennessee State University

With more than 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.