Gonzaga Hosts Nation’s Best Debaters This Weekend at ‘The Jesuit’ Tournament

This article appeared first on Gonzaga University News Service.

SPOKANE, Wash. – Eighty-six of the top college debate teams in the nation will descend upon the Gonzaga University campus this weekend, Oct. 29-31, to compete in the three-day 2016 Jesuit Debates tournament, known as “The Jesuit.”

“Traditionally, this has been the weekend of the Harvard Debate Tournament. After decades of hosting, Harvard decided to pass the baton and asked us to take over hosting duties this weekend,” said Glen Frappier, director of debate and senior lecturer at Gonzaga. “We’re very excited to have the best college debaters in the nation on our campus for this event.”

Preliminary rounds of the competition will be held Saturday and Sunday at Gonzaga before moving to the Red Lion Hotel at the Park on Monday for the elimination and final rounds. The finals begin at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

Representing Gonzaga at the tournament will be the teams of seniors Paige Spraker, Boise, Idaho, and Dillon Johnson, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; juniors Joe Skoog, Phoenix, Arizona, and Ben Weinhardt, Des Moines, Iowa; and senior James Elias, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and junior Sam Basler, Des Moines, Iowa.

Gonzaga maintains a rich tradition of excellence in college debate and has qualified a team for the National Debate Tournament in 21 of the past 22 years. The teams of Spraker and Weinhardt, and Johnson and Jenna Bauer (who is now helping coach the GU team) represented Gonzaga at the 2016 NDT in February.

Following are the schools with teams competing in the tournament:

University of Central Oklahoma
University of Georgia
University of Houston
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky
University of Mary Washington
University of Michigan
University of Nevada Las Vegas
University of Oklahoma
University of Puget Sound
University of Southern California
University of Washington
University of Wyoming
Wake Forest University
Weber State University
University of West Georgia