The Policy Debate Squad travels locally, regionally, and nationally to compete in Policy debate competitions. It is a research-intensive, 2v2 style of debate that argues for and against the same resolution throughout the year. It allows for the ability to learn about policy and critical theory in a nuanced measure.
2021-2022 Policy Debate Captain:
Lucas Rentz
Lucas can be reached at lucas.rentz@ufl.edu, or on Facebook.
2021-2022 Resolution: TBD
2019-2020 Tournament Schedule: TBD
2019-2020 Resolution:
Resolved: The United States Federal Government should establish a national space policy substantially increasing its international space cooperation with the People’s Republic of China and/or the Russian Federation in one or more of the following areas:
- arms control of space weapons;
- exchange and management of space situational awareness information;
- joint human spaceflight for deep space exploration;
- planetary defense;
- space traffic management;
- space-based solar power
2019-2020 Tournament Schedule:
University of Central Florida ~ October 4-6
Lucas Rentz and Ashwin Mathi, Rachel Orr and Nicole Eldeb, and Everett Schwieg and Alejandro Mont all competed in the novice divison. Lucas and Ashwin got first place!
University of Mary Washington ~ October 10-14
Debators Charles Karcher and Morgan Spicer competed in their first varsity tournament.
George Mason University ~ November 7-11
Varsity debators Charles Karcher and Morgan Spicer competed. Novice debators Lucas Rentz and Ashwin Mathi went 3-3 in their first Junior Varsity tournament.
Wake Forest University ~ November 22-26
2017-18 Tournament Results:
Georgia State University
Varsity debaters Kate Scolaro and Dennis Callaghan went 3-5 in prelims, and Emmanuel Kizito and Stefanie Gonzalez went 2-6! JV debaters Martin Alexis and Lindsey McNamara and Morgan Spicer and Stephanie Sanchez all went 4-2 in prelims. Morgan and Stephanie advanced to the quarterfinals round, and Martin and Lindsey got to finals! Morgan got 8th speaker in the division.
Sunshine State Showdown
Novices Kalimah Ujaama and Davis Dees made it to finals at the UCF tournament and got 3rd and 4th speakers respectively.
University of Mary Washington
JVers Martin Alexis and Lindsey McNamara went 2-4 in prelims, JVers Morgan Spicer and Stephanie Sanchez went 4-2 in prelims and broke to quarterfinals, with Morgan Spicer getting 8th speaker.
West Point
Varsity debaters Kate Scolaro and Dennis Callaghan went 4-4 in prelims and made it to the octafinals round! Varsity debaters Emmanuel Kizito and Stefanie Gonzalez went 6-2 in prelims and advanced to the semi-finals round, with Emmanuel getting 10th speaker.
Liberty University
Novice debaters Kalimah and Davis went 4-2 in prelims and advanced to octafinals. JVers Morgan and Stephanie went 6-0 in prelims and advanced to the finals round. Morgan and Stephanie also got 3rd and 4th speakers respectively!
Franklin R. Shirley Classic
Varsity debaters Kate and Dennis went 2-6 and Emmanuel and Stefanie went 4-4!
ADA Fall Championship:
JV debaters Morgan and Martin went 5-1 in prelims and won the tournament! Martin got 4th speaker and Morgan got 1st speaker.
Texas Swings. Varsity debaters Kate and Dennis went 3-3 at the first of the Texas Swings and broke to octa-finals! Stefanie and Emmanuel went 1-5! At the second tournament Kate and Dennis went 2-4 and Emmanuel and Stefanie went 3-3!
Crowe Warken Debates at Navy
New Varsity debaters Martin and Shay went 1-7 and Morgan and Stephanie went 3-5!
James Madison University
Varsity debaters Kate and Dennis and Martin and Stephanie went 1-5, Emmanuel and Stefanie went 2-4!
District 6
Varsity debaters Kate and Dennis and Stephanie and Morgan went 2-4! Stefanie and Emmanuel went 5-1, a performance that qualified them for the 2018 National Debate Tournament, the first time a UF team has qualified in 13 years!
Cross Examination Debate Association Nationals at Seattle
Kalimah Ujaama (in her first varsity tournament) and Shay Jean-Baptiste went 2-6! Kate Scolaro and Dennis Callaghan went 4-4 in prelims and broke to triple-octas! Kate also won National Scholar Debate- Summa Cum Laude, an academic award bestowed on competitors based on GPA and debate achievement!
National Debate Tournament at Wichita State
In UF’s fist appearance at the NDT in 13 years, Emmanuel and Stefanie went 1-7 and received 6 ballots!