Speech and Debate Returns to Utah State University after 20 Years

Speech and Debate Returns to Utah State University after 20 Years

Speech and debate has returned to Utah State University after a 20-year hiatus and team members are back in winning action at tournaments.

The club has 37 members and has already successfully competed in one tournament at Northwest College in Wyoming. Utah State finished fourth in the debate competition and sixth overall in a competition against much more experienced teams from around the West.

“I am extremely proud of how well the team performed, especially given the fact that many of the other teams have years of tournament experience,” said Tom Worthen, coach of the team and a faculty member in the department of languages and philosophy. “This is a good feather in the university’s cap.”

Worthen said he hopes to rekindle interest in the speech and debate team.

“The speech and debate team is a wonderful outlet that polishes students as speakers and as individuals,” Worthen said.

Utah State University is the only university in Utah that does not have a university funded speech and debate team, with most of the other universities providing class periods and scholarships to accommodate the program. Worthen said that, in general, students who participate in speech and debate have higher GPA and ACT scores.

The speech and debate program at Utah State was discontinued in 1983 after budget constraints could no longer support the program. The department of languages and philosophy funded the program prior to 1983 as a university club. Worthen coached the last Utah State team as a graduate student. He returned to the university in 1997, and as a current faculty member volunteered to take on the challenge of reviving the club.

Due to budget constraints, only seven members could attend and compete in the Wyoming tournament. Tournaments consist of two categories — parliamentary debate and speech. In the speech category, students can compete in a variety of categories ranging from literature to public events.

Utah State donated the use of a van to the team but the rest of the cost of the tournament was donated by Worthen. Worthen said donating his time as a coach and covering the cost of the first tournament out of his pocket was a way to show the department the value and capabilities of a speech and debate team.

For more information about the Utah State University Speech and Debate Team or to find out how to provide support to continue the program, contact Worthen at (435) 994-0023, or John Seiter of the department of languages and philosophy at jsseiter@cc.usu.edu or (435) 797-0138.