Published on October 21, 2024  
DebateDebate George Ziegelmueller Tournament

This past weekend, Samford Debate competed at the George Ziegelmueller tournament hosted by Wayne State University. The novice team of Kate Alexander and Lexi Bush won the tournament and earned first and second speaker, respectively. This is Samford’s second tournament win of the season. 

The varsity team experienced success, winning numerous indiviual speaker awards. Senior TJ Riggs won third speaker overall. Sophomore Laurel Pack won 14th speaker and senior Aaron Gill won 15th speaker.

Seniors Grace Scott and Mary Grace Hammond defeated Wayne State and Baylor. Gill and senior Abigail Montgomery defeated California State University, Long Beach and Baylor University, while Riggs and Pack defeated the University of Texas at Dallas and CSU Long Beach.

The team will now shift its focus to hosting the Birmingham Area Debate League on Tuesday, Oct. 22, a free debate circuit created to expand access to debate in the greater Birmingham area.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.