UIS Places in the Top Five at Novice Nationals

SPRINGFIELD, IL. (March 15, 2019) – The UIS Speech and Debate team returned to the national stage by taking part in the Novice Nationals speech and debate tournament hosted this year by Bowling Green State University. The team placed 5th in Division III team sweepstakes. Teams are placed into divisions based on the number of speeches entered at the tournament.

“I could not be prouder of this team” said coach Timothy Bill. He continued, “most of these students have never done speech and debate before this year. They started from scratch this fall and have grown as speakers at every competition we’ve traveled to.  Their hard work made this team award possible.”

Novice Nationals is a competition for students in their first year of collegiate speech and debate. The organization is dedicated to providing an educational, yet competitive experience for students new to the activity. This year, teams from as far away as Georgia, Florida, and Pennsylvania attended the competition. UIS last attended this tournament in 2014.

The University of Illinois Springfield Speech and Debate Team is committed to training the next generation of civic leaders, public speakers, and communicators who are passionate about effecting change in their communities. The team is housed in the Department of Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. To find out more, please visit the Speech and Debate site.