The UTD Mercury

Media Credit: Lauren Buell Some of the trophies and other awards amassed by UTD Debate are displayed in the Green Center atrium. Pictured, from left: Assistant Director of Debate Scott Herndon, Brittany Leach, Andrew Baker, Brian Rubaie and Assistant Coach Todd Jordan.

UTD debate closed out the first half of its season with a top 20 team, strong performances by freshmen debaters and one of the most bizarre "lost evidence" stories ever told.

Andrew Baker, sophomore political science major, and Brian Rubaie, junior criminology major, tied for ninth place out of about 140 teams Nov. 15-17 at the Franklin R. Shirley Classic at Wake Forest University, one of the largest tournaments in the country.

"We cleared (at Wake Forest) for the first time in UTD history and won our first out-round there," Rubaie said. "I received 19th speaker, which was also a first for us there. It was a big step forward for the program."

Other victories, including Baker and Rubaie's third place win at Harvard University's tournament put the team in the running for a first round bid to the National Debate Tournament, an honor awarded to the top 16 teams in the country.

Baker said his most memorable moment of the semester came at Harvard.

Before announcing the wining team, UTD was recognized for having a break-out tournament.

"The semifinals bracket was the top two teams in the nation, last year's best team, and us," Baker said.

Freshmen Brittany Leach, political science, and Collin Roark, historical studies, finished ninth in the freshman-sophomore division at Wake Forest.

Their first outing of the year, earned them a bit of notoriety.

As the teams and coaches prepared to leave for Georgia State University, a few boxes of evidence sitting in front of Herndon's house went missing.

Leach and Roark initially suspected Todd Jordan, assistant coach and public affairs graduate student and Scott Herndon, UTD debate assistant director and coach were playing a prank, Jordan said. Shortly thereafter, they realized the only possible explanation was that they'd been picked up by a recycling truck.

"On the airport shuttle, Herndon was on the phone with the city, asking if the dispatcher can turn the truck around, Jordan said. "The truck driver said 'yeah, we've compacted three times. They're probably in the middle of the truck. We can dump it at the recycling center and you can sort through it, but you but we recommend you bring a pickaxe."

Herndon said the freshmen didn't understand why the coaches were laughing hysterically

"People who've been doing this for 20-30 years said it was the best 'I lost my evidence' story they've ever heard," Jordan said. "Before they'd even debated in their first tournament, they became legends."

Leach said they had evidence on their laptops and were able to recover from the loss without much difficulty.

"I thought it was really funny, but my partner was absolutely devastated, she said. "It was a hassle, but we got through it."

UTD will host the sixth annual Fear and Loathing in Dallas Intercollegiate Debate Tournament Jan. 10-12.

Article Tools