School of Communication Professor Leads FSU Speech and Debate Team to Win State, National, and International Championships

Posted by Da'Mya Bray on

Leading the Florida State University (FSU) Speech and Debate team through a remarkable season, School of Communication (SCOM) professor Avery Henry guided students to victories at the state, national, and international levels, while also earning individual awards. 

“This win fills me with pride because it is evidence of the hard work and dedication the team has put in this season,” Henry said. 

At the Florida Intercollegiate Forensics Association State Championship, the team returned home with the 1st Place Limited Entry Sweepstakes and 1st Place Overall Debate Sweepstakes trophies. Finishing in the top five overall sweepstakes, the FSU team outperformed programs that entered competitors in every category. 

“It was so impressive that despite being a limited entry school—meaning that we only competed in a limited amount of the 14 total events—we were the overall Debate Sweepstakes Champions,” Henry said. 

The tournament also marked the first time in years that FSU competed in all three debate formats offered, such as the International Public Debate Association (IPDA), the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA), and Lincoln-Douglas (LD).   

The most remarkable performance came in the Lincoln-Douglas debate, where five FSU competitors, Harleigh Demchak, Zoey Rotenberry, Juliana Laguado, Lucas Laman, and Pamala Healy, each finished the preliminary rounds with perfect 4-0 records. By securing the top five seeds, each competitor finished undefeated and shared the title of state champion. Other team members also contributed to the program’s sweepstakes victories. Joshua Nover competed in IPDA, NPDA, and impromptu events and played a key role in the team’s success by giving up his spot to allow a teammate to qualify for nationals. 

“I had full confidence that they were going to win the LD event and thought we had a chance to close it out, but I never in my wildest dreams thought that we would have all five of our debaters go undefeated in preliminary rounds without dropping a single ballot, and therefore ending the tournament without the need for elimination rounds,” Henry said. 

Individually, Harleigh Demchak earned multiple awards, including LD State Champion, 1st Place Speaker in LD, NPDA semifinalist, and the winner of the Citrus Award, recognizing top all-around debaters. Zoey Rotenberry also excelled as an LD co-champion and 2nd Place Speaker, while Juliana Laguado, Lucas Laman, and Pamala Healy completed the undefeated group of co-champions.  

Five FSU debaters advanced to a national competition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, competing in both open and junior varsity divisions. Blake Bole advanced to the final round with a 4-1 preliminary record, finishing 2nd overall and earning 2nd Place Speaker honors. Zoey Rotenberry reached the quarterfinals, while Joseph Alonso earned the 9th Place Speaker Award. In the junior varsity division, Juliana Laguado advanced to the semifinals and placed 2nd Speaker. 

The team continued its success internationally at the International Forensics Association Tournament in Athens, Greece. Harleigh Demchak and Zoey Rotenberry advanced to elimination rounds as the 7th seed before defeating the 2nd, 3rd, and 1st seeds to claim the international championship. First-time competitors Christina Done and Laura Pinto-Alton also contributed to the team’s performance in debate and speech events. Pinto-Alton will represent FSU at the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Debate Championship alongside Savanah Anderson. 

The team also explored historic sites central to the origins of Western speech and debate, including the Acropolis of Athens, Parthenon, Ancient Agora of Athens, and the Temple of Poseidon of Sounion.  

With the big victories at the state, national, and international levels, the FSU Speech and Debate Team now looks ahead to the ACC Debate Championship and the National Forensics Association Championship as they close out this amazing season. 

 “This would complete a perfect season in which we add an ACC Championship and a national championship honors to the accolades mentioned above,” Henry said.