Boston College won the Junior Varsity division of the 31st annual Liberty University Debate Tournament held during November 6 to 8, 2020.
A partial list of teams competing in the tournament included Dartmouth, George Mason, Gonzaga, James Madison, Navy, University of Minnesota, University of Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest.
Debating for Fulton Debate in the Liberty Tournament was Sophia Carter,’22 and Anderson Zhang’23. During the preliminary rounds, Carter & Zhang compiled a 5-1 record. Their only loss was to the top seed from Liberty who went 6-0.
In the quarter-finals, Carter & Zhang were the 3rd seed and faced the 6th seed from George Mason. In the world of virtual debating, the sides for elimination round debates is determined by the computer rather than by the tossing of a coin. The computer gave George Mason the choice of sides and they decided to debate on the negative. In a split decision, Boston College defeated George Mason.
Next, Boston College met the 2nd seed from Navy in the semi-finals and the computer granted BC the opportunity to choose the sides. Carter & Zhang opted to debate on the negative and defeated Navy in a 2-1 decision.
In the final round, Carter & Zhang faced the top seed from Liberty. BC was locked on the negative. Liberty advocated a plan to have the United States revoke its Article V collective security commitment to NATO. BC argued that doing that would cause Turkey to acquire nuclear weapons and cause a war between Greece and Turkey. In a 3-0 decision, Fulton Debate prevailed and won the tournament.
Sophia Carter also received individual recognition. She was named the 7th best speaker in junior varsity.
In the varsity division, the University of Minnesota defeated the University of Pittsburgh in a 2-1 decision.
Next week, BC competes in the ADA Fall Championship hosted by Wake Forest University.
For information about the debate program, contact John Katsulas at katsulas@bc.edu