As a past member of the debate team and National Honorary Forensics Society, Pi Kappa Delta, I was truely offended by the article that was written concerning the new direction of the debate team. When I flipped open the torch I was excited to read about the team that I had previously been a part of and dedicated to since my sophomore year. However that excitment turned quickly to hurt when I read the pull out quote that centered the article reading, “It’s too bad serveral people chose not to come back this year but the energy and enthusiasm of the young squad is refreshing.”
Although that is what you first read in the article there is no reference as to why the members did not return to the team. Although I don’t think that is a topic that should be addressed in the newspaper, it was offensive that it was even referenced and further more was the focus of the article. That is poor journalism and should have been completely omitted. That quote casts us in a negative light, leaving the impression that we were not dedicated and lacking in energy and enthusiasm.
To clarify things, those “several people” actually kept the team afloat last year when there was only an interim coach who had very limited debate experience (but a lot of enthusiasm). We coached ourselves spending much more time outside regular practice. We also won serveral awards both individually and as a team (you can see us in the most recent publication of Crimson & Gold), coming out further ahead than we had the year before. We also showcased many debates on campus (which had rarely been done before). There was absolutely no energy or enthusiam lacking from the old team. The members became my family here, and still continue to be that. While I am excited to see the new team advance and improve this year, by an obviously a highly qualified coach, I think it would be a discredit to those that kept the team alive last year to be left in the ambigous and negative light the article has cast us in.
Morgan Toms
FSU Business Student