Falcon Forensics and Debate Team wins a national championship

BOWLING GREEN, O.—The 20 members of the Falcon Forensics and Debate Team spent their spring break winning a national championship. The team beat out 127 other universities to win the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament held March 4-8 at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

BGSU earned 50 individual national awards and three team awards during the four-day tournament. Three students were named national champion: Jamie Salazar, a senior from El Paso, Texas, who won in persuasive speaking; Dylan House, a junior from Wooster, Ohio, who won top honors in rhetorical criticism/communication analysis; and Linda Li, a freshman from Stow, Ohio, who was named national champion in student congress.

Each BGSU team member earned an honor, which contributed to the overall first place finish and national title.

During this season, the Falcon team has placed in the top three at each of the 16 invitational tournaments they’ve attended, as well as earned a first place finish at the Ohio State Championships.

“This was an amazing tournament,” said Paul Wesley Alday, director of forensics and debate. “I am truly proud of their accomplishments, especially since placing first was not on our team’s radar for this championship, but our team members really brought forth the quality. Our next goal is to place in the top 10 at the National Forensics Association National Championships at the end of April. This is the granddaddy of all national competitions and one of which BGSU was a founding member back in 1971.”

Forensics and Debate is a co-curricular, competitive program offered through the School of Media and Communication and Department of Communication, offering BGSU undergraduate students the opportunity to hone their communication and performance skills in competition with other colleges and universities from around the nation and globe.