Detroit, MI. -- Wayne State University’s (WSU) nationally-ranked Debate Team won the American Debate Association National Championship Tournament on March 12 at Liberty University in Virginia. WSU seniors Gabe Murillo and Andy Timmons entered the tournament ranked third, but beat out the top-ranked University of Georgia team to win the national championship title. The University of Georgia has only lost eight of its 101 debates this year. WSU’s second team is made up of juniors Dustin Greenwalt and Dave Rancilio who entered the tournament unranked but finished with a remarkable fifth place ranking. 

     A new debate topic is chosen each year by a topic committee as well as by votes from schools nationwide. The topic for the 2006-07 season is: “Resolved: That the U.S. Supreme Court should overrule one or more of its decisions regarding the following issues: abortion; Guantanamo Bay; desegregation of public schools; and, the Violence Against Women Act.” 

     In the final debate of the tournament, Champions Murillo and Timmons found themselves in familiar territory. They debated a U.S. Supreme Court decision discussing the issue of desegregation in the Detroit Public Schools. "We were able to add personal experience to our researched arguments in this particular case,” said Murillo. "We were worried that the untraditional form of our argument would not go over well with the judges, but luckily we were wrong." All three judges voted WSU as the victor. 

     The debate teams are directed by Ron Stevenson, director of debate, and Kelly Young, director of forensics. “Winning this Championship represents a very important achievement for our program. It is a testament to the incredible work of our students and coaching staff,” said Kelly Young. 

     WSU\'s Debate Team began in 1918 and has placed second in the National Debate Tournament twice, placed among the top ten at the National Individual Events Tournament and has won virtually every individual debate tournament at least once. This victory represents the team’s first national championship. Last year, Wayne State Debate ranked 12th in the National Debate Tournament in Varsity rankings, 1st in American Debate Association Varsity rankings, and 11th in CEDA overall rankings.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to 33,000 students.