Arkansas Tech University students Stephanie Littlefield of Dover, Jasper Millsaps of Dover and Kaleb Young of Batesville competed in the Border Wars debate tournament in Tulsa, Okla., during the final weekend of October.
Littlefield qualified for the tournament playoffs in the junior varsity International Public Debate Association division. She earned a semifinalist award as well as the fourth place overall speaker award.
“ATU’s novice debaters (Millsaps and Young) also did very well this weekend, bringing home the award for the first place novices in team debate,” said Dr. Gabriel L. Adkins, ATU professor of communication studies and head coach/program director for the ATU speech and debate team.
Adkins was aided by assistant coach Carson Davis, an ATU graduate student and administrative assistant in the ATU Office of Admissions.
Two ATU speech and debate team members — Mora Boyd of Fort Smith and Tess Robertson of Wynne — served as judges at the Border Wars tournament.
The ATU speech and debate team will host a tournament on the Arkansas Tech campus in Russellville Nov. 15-17.
“Members of the ATU community and the public are invited to participate as judges at this tournament, which will feature both individual and team debate rounds,” said Adkins. “No experience is necessary to serve as a judge, as the association seeks to train debaters to persuade members of the general public who are not necessarily familiar with the technicalities of academic debate.”
The ATU speech and debate team is preparing to host the 2027 International Public Debate Association National Tournament and Convention at Arkansas Tech. ATU previously hosted the event in 2017.
Individuals seeking more information about the ATU speech and debate team may send e-mail to gadkins@atu.edu.
