- About A&S
- Academics
- Academic Calendar
- Academic Departments, Majors & Minors
- Academic Honor Code
- Academic Resources
- Academic Support Services
- A&S Catalogue
- A&S Mission Statement
- Dean of the Arts and Sciences
- Honors Degree Program
- International Learning
- Student-Faculty Collaborative Scholarship Program
- Student Records
- The Rollins Plan
- Admission
- Faculty & Staff
- Student Life
Rollins Varsity Debate Team
ORLANDO SENTINEL: Trayvon Martin: Rollins College debates gun law with Cambridge team, April 10, 2012
PHOTOS: Rollins Debate Team vs. Cambridge Debate Society, April 5, 2012
NPDA Novice National Competition - Lafayette College
Rollins College is a member of the National Parliamentary Debate Association which is the largest debate association in America with more than 1,100 members. During spring break the novice members of the Rollins Debate Team attended the National Parliamentary Debate Association’s Novice National Competition in Philadelphia, PA. We performed excellently! I am extremely happy to announce that we are currently ranked second nationally in novice parliamentary debate, we have the second and third best novice parliamentary debaters in the country, Melissa Fussell #2 and Rebecca Wilson #3, and we are the fourth best novice team overall, i.e. in all categories of competition, i.e. debate, impromptu speaking, etc. Please join me in congratulating Melissa Fussell and Rebecca Wilson and the member of the debate team on a job well done.
Marks Invitational - University of West Florida
On Saturday January 27, 2012, members of the Rollins College Debate Team participated in a southeastern regional debate competition at the University of West Florida in Pensacola Florida. This competition featured debate teams from college and universities throughout the southeastern region of the United States. As is customary in parliamentary debates, audience members were encouraged to shout cheers and jeers while the speakers offered arguments in favor of and against issues such as humanitarian intervention in Africa, universal language requirements for high school graduates, occupy wall street movement, and so on. The Rollins Debate Team posted a record of 4 and 0 in the preliminary rounds and made it to the semi-final round where they lost by a vote of 2 to 1, and ultimately took third place in the southeastern regional debate competition.Star Invitational - Florida State College at Jacksonville
Over the weekend of November 12th, members of the Rollins College Varsity Debate Team participated in an electrifying debate competition at the Florida State College at Jacksonville at the South Campus. This was a state-wide competition so Rollins competed against other schools in the state of Florida. The topic of debate ranged from salary caps in Major League Baseball to Herman Cain’s 999 Federal Tax Plan. The final round featured a debate between Rollins and Florida College. The topic of the round was: This House Believes that the United States should sign onto the Treaty for the International Criminal Court. Both teams performed well but it was the Rollins Team who performed the best, winning first place in Star Invitational Parliamentary Debate Competition and fourth place in the category of Best Speaker.Cumberland Swing - Berea College
On Friday, October 21, 2011, members of the Rollins College Debate Team participated in a mid-west regional debate competition at Berea College in Berea Kentucky. This debate competition featured teams from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and Florida. As is customary in parliamentary debates, audience members were encouraged to shout cheers and jeers while the speakers offered arguments in favor of and against issues such as standardized testing, vocational education, the International Criminal Court, same-sex marriage, Herman Cain’s 999 plan, and globalization. The Rollins Debate Team posted a record of 4 and 2 in the preliminary rounds and sweep through the elimination rounds all the way to the finals. The final round featured University of Miami of Ohio versus Rollins College. The resolution for the final round was: Globalization is bad for developing countries. Rollins debated the affirmative and Miami of Ohio debated the opposition. Rollins lost by a vote of 2 to 1 and ultimately took second place in the mid-west regional debate competition.Healthcare Debate - Winter Park University Club
On Wednesday, September 13, 2011, members of the Rollins College Debate Team participated in a spirited debate competition at the Winter Park University Club. In keeping with the customary practices of parliamentary debates, audience members were encouraged to shout cheers and jeers while the speakers offered arguments in favor of and against the resolution: The United States Federal Government must institute universal healthcare immediately. As is the custom for University Club debates, the members of the audience were invited to asked questions before the rebuttal speeches. It is also the practice of the University Club to allow its members to determine the result of the debate. Because the questions were evenly balanced it was not possible to determine which side of the debate the audience favored. In the end, however, the audience voted 39 to 18 in favor of the proposition.ITT Tech Invitational - ITT Technical College
On Wednesday, July 20, members of the Rollins College Varsity Debate Team participated in an electrifying debate competition at ITT Tech’s Lake Mary campus. For the first time ever ITT Tech hosted an exhibition debate featuring the Rollins Debate Team on the topics of (1) national standardized testing and (2) using the International Criminal Court to prosecute the perpetrators of torture at Guantanamo Bay.The debate was organized by ITT English Instructor Sarah Beth Hopton as part of an ongoing intellectual exchange between ITT and Rollins College. Moreover, it was well attended by ITT students, guests, and instructors; even the Associate Dean of General Studies, Leslie Gibson, was in attendance. As is customary in parliamentary debates, the members of the audience were encouraged to shout cheers and jeers while the speakers offered arguments in favor of and against standardized testing and using the International Criminal Court to prosecute American citizens. The audience was also invited to judge the debate and determine the winners.
Speaking about this event, Rollins Alumni Associate Dean Gibson remarked: “What a pleasure it was to have you and your debate team members here at ITT Tech to demonstrate the power of language to our students!” She continued: “I especially appreciated the agenda that you prepared for Ms. Hopton’s composition class that allowed the audience to see the preparation and strategy behind the scenes as well as the actual debate.” Ms. Sarah Beth Hopton added: “I was on quite the intellectual high after the debate, largely because it was so nice to be surrounded by such excellent minds.” She continued: “Many students commented that it changed their view of debate, and some even said it changed their view of writing and researching, meaning, they finally see the value in English!”
The Rollins team thanked the ITT administration and staff for hosting them and promised to return for more debates in the future.
©2012 Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789 407.646.2000