The FSU Forensics team has been making strides at national speech tournaments. This year, the group placed 19th at the AFA-NIET tournament, the first time that the team has placed in the top 20 in consecutive years. Additionally, senior Joseph Quintana advanced to the final round and placed 4th in Informative, making him the first national finalist from FSU since 2014. His speech described a group of people in the Middle East who have been labeled as a terrorist group and argued that they could actually be America’s greatest allies. The democratic structure, called Rojava, has shifted patriarchal mindsets and reversed gender discriminatory laws in a small region in Syria.

Quintana was also the second student from FSU to ever place in the individual sweepstakes, a gauge of the competitor’s entire body of work at the competition. In his other speeches, he spoke about oversight on the US Customs and Border Patrol, Hurricane Katrina, mass shootings in Chicago and the lack of diversity in media.

Furthermore, the team won its first national championship at the National Forensic Association’s tournament, placing first in the President’s Division III.

Kevin Waters, assistant to the FSU Forensics team, shares, “It is very rewarding to see students highlighted for all their hard work.”

If you are an undergraduate interested in joining the FSU Forensics team, reach out to Kevin Waters at krw10c@my.fsu.edu. Additionally, if you are interested in supporting the FSU Forensics team, you can reach out to Mafe Brooks at mafe.brooks@cci.fsu.edu. You can also donate directly to FSU Forensics at this link.