The Fulton Debating Society reached the final round in the novice division of the American Debate Association’s National Tournament hosted online and in-person by Emory University during March 5-7, 2022. For the first time this year, Boston College competed in the flesh at a tournament.
A partial list of teams participating in the tournament included Emory, George Mason, Georgetown, James Madison, Navy, Northwestern, U of Kansas, U of Minnesota, U of Michigan and U of Miami (Florida).
Debating for Boston College at the tournament were Caleb Wachsmuth,’24 and Ian McNabb’24. During the preliminary debates they were 5-1 defeating teams from Monmouth, University of Miami (Florida), University of Houston, George Mason, and Indiana.
As the 4th seed, Wachsmuth & McNabb debated against the 13th seed from George Mason. The computer awarded George Mason the choice of side and they decided to debate on the negative. George Mason argued a Capitalism bad critique. BC argued that replacing Capitalism with Marxism would lead to massive social disruptions leading to the death of three-quarters of the world’s population.
With a distinguished judging panel headed by the legendary Dallas Perkins, Jr. (the retired Harvard Coach), Boston College prevailed in a 2-1 decision capturing the ballot of Perkins, along with the current Harvard Director of Debate, Tripp Rebrovick.
In the quarter finals, Boston College met the 5th seed from James Madison. BC again lost the coin flip. James Madison opted to debate on the negative. James Madison argued an Afropessimism critique. BC responded by arguing that applying antitrust to Major League Baseball was not inconsistent with Afropessimism. In another 2-1 decision, Boston College emerged victorious.
The semi-finals set up a debate against the undefeated and top seed from the University of Houston. Fortunately, the computer cooperated this time and gave BC the choice of sides. BC immediately declared it was going to debate on the negative.
The University of Houston advocated a plan to apply antitrust against the National Resident Matching Program. This is a non-profit that matches medical students to residency programs. Earlier in the tournament, BC defeated the other Houston team who ran this same affirmative plan. So, BC was confident in beating Houston.
In the semi-final debate, Wachsmuth & McNabb argued that the Houston plan was non-topical. The debate resolution requires expanding antitrust to the private sector. BC argued that the doctor match program was not part of the private sector because it was not a profit-seeking business. BC argued that excluding non-profits was vital to keeping the topic manageable as there are 1.4 million non-profit organizations.
In a 2-1 decision, the judges agreed with BC that the Houston plan was non-topical.
In the final round, Boston College faced Samford University. The computer awarded BC its choice of sides and BC opted for the affirmative. Because Samford ran a new affirmative plan in the octo finals, BC was not prepared to debate on the negative side.
On the affirmative, BC defended its plan to revoke the antitrust exemption given to Major League Baseball (MLB). It argued repealing the exemption would prevent MLB from coercing cities into providing subsidies for building new stadiums and would lead to higher pay and improved housing conditions for minor league players.
In a very close debate, the judges voted for Samford in a 2-1 decision.
For information about Fulton Debate, contact John Katsulas at <katsulas@bc.edu>.