by Bonnie Butcher
The first poll of intercollegiate debate season has been released and University of West Georgia Debate is the top ranked Division II team within its field of competition. The UWG team of senior Hakeem Muhammad and junior Khalid Sharif are currently ranked #11 in the country. UWG is the only regional comprehensive university ranked in the top 25, and with Emory University the only other school in the state ranked in the poll, UWG is also the highest ranked public institution in Georgia.
West Georgia’s competition includes major R-1 (research) institutions, both private and public. The following universities are institutions ranked ahead of UWG: Harvard, Michigan, Kentucky, Emory, Michigan State, Iowa, Wake Forest, Georgetown, and Cal-Berkeley.
“Since Dr. Chester Gibson first arrived on the Carrollton campus in 1970, West Georgia Debate has grown into a nationally elite debate program with sustained excellence through five decades,” said Dr. Michael Hester, director of UWG Debate. “Every season, UWG students engage in scholarly competition with the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the nation, and the current ranking attests to UWG Debate's continued performance as nationally elite.”
The topic designated by the Cross Examination Debate Association and the National Debate Tournament is: “The United States should significantly reduce its military presence in one or more of the following: the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the Greater Horn of Africa, Northeast Asia.”
UWG Debate team has won three national championships and finished as a runner-up on two occasions. This is no small feat, as these competitions include all universities in the entire nation.
UWG Debate will travel to its last tournament of this semester November 13-17, when it attends the Wake Forest national tournament.
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