Nationally ranked debaters converge on campus
Mick Strong
More than 400 debaters from 35 colleges and one high school converged on the LSUS campus in November for the 27th Annual Red River Swing debate tournament.

Tournament Director Mary "Jorji" Jarzabek, an LSUS communication instructor, originally planned for the tournament to host around 150 debaters, but "due to a large response from outside schools and LSUS's convenient geographical location, schools chose to get a few extra points in before nationals began this spring," Jarzabek said.

"The top four International Public Debate Association schools and the top 10 National Parliamentary Debate Association schools were here," A.J. Edwards, LSUS's debate team captain, said. "These schools helped to make this tournament one of the most fierce debates this year."

Edwards, an IPDA debater, ranked first in the LSUS Red River Swing IPDA Varsity Tournament, adding yet another trophy to his outstanding record.

The debaters came from 35 schools in nine states, and from as far away as Florida, West Texas and Missouri. The large number of debaters took up 46 rooms on Friday of the three-day event, causing a the competition to spill out of Bronson Hall into every classroom building on campus. In a couple of instances, cooperative instructors moved their classes outdoors on a beautiful autumn day.

The tournament received outstanding reviews from debaters, as well as their coaches. "For such a large tournament, everything went very smoothly," Emily Walsh, a debater from Stephen F. Austin State University, said as she was packing to go back to school in Nacogdoches, Texas. "Jorji and her team of judges did a wonderful job."