The last time UNI competed in the National Debate Tournament was the 2016-2017 season.  However, in the last two years, with help from speech coach Squid Monteith, the UNI debate team has put its name back on the map for college debate. For the first time in almost a decade, UNI is sending two students to the National Debate Tournament.

Burke Doyle and Kat Van Buren are the qualifying members for the national debate tournament and were both shocked when they qualified. “Squid lied to us,” said Van Buren jokingly when asked how they felt when they qualified. The two were still waiting on results from another round to confirm if they had qualified, and Monteith didn’t want them to get their hopes up. “I don’t think either of us expected it to happen,” continues Van Buren. “But we’re very happy it did.” 

Doyle adds that at the beginning of the season, it started as an idea of “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could do this [qualify for nationals]?” He said that while at first, it seemed like an unrealistic goal, as the season progressed, the team realized they were “actually really good” and eventually met a goal that once seemed unrealistic.

Both Doyle and Van Buren are English Education majors and agree that debate has shaped the way they go about their major. “Before last year, I didn’t know debate existed. And then I joined the team, I did debate a bunch, and found out I actually really love the sport,” states Doyle. “I was initially an English Education major with a journalism minor, and now I have a creative writing minor and ideally want to coach debate when I graduate.” 

Doyle and Van Buren also feel that speech coaches Squid Monteith and Noel Keil have been a source of inspiration and support throughout the season. “Our coaching staff has a very good outlook on what we need to get done and how to help you do what you need to do,” stated Van Buren. “They give you the strategies to create things like new modes of thinking that you can use in debate.

The road to nationals was never an easy one. Compared to several other schools in the country that are bigger or where students had been debating since middle or high school, members of UNI debate didn’t have that same level of experience. “This was my first year actually doing debate,” states qualifying member Burke Doyle. Doyle joined the debate group at the end of last spring after the season ended, but states that over the year has learned how much he enjoys debate. “Obviously I enjoy debate very greatly, because I managed to, in a year, get to a spot where we could qualify [for nationals].”

Monteith feels that Doyle and Van Buren’s success this season goes beyond debate itself. “They both care very deeply about what this squad and this team represents beyond their time here, since the moment that both of them joined the team,” stated Monteith. Van Buren played a large role in helping to revive the debate team, and Monteith believes that dedication and care for the debate team is what has guided them to this position. “They know that their individual wins are marks of success for them, but they also recognize that this is bigger than them,” Monteith adds. 

UNI being able to send students back to the national tournament is a big step for both Doyle and Van Buren personally as well as the debate team as a whole. “It’s definitely validation that we can do the things that we want to do, especially within the times we’re in politically,” says Van Buren. Doyle added on, stating “I think this is absolutely a massive deal,” exclaims Doyle. “It’s really cool to be like, yeah I was part of the team that sent us to the nationals for the first time in nine years.” 

Monteith hopes that this milestone will allow for more eyes on the program and more recognition from the university. UNI Speech and Debate is one of the oldest student organizations on campus, yet a lot of people don’t realize that the team exists. “I think it speaks volumes to see what we have done in two years with how little we have gotten,” Monteith states. “It just shows that like there is a lot of fierce competition and intellectuals on this team … they pulled up with zero debate experience, and now they have etched themselves into the top 100, top 78 teams in the country.”