SPRINGFIELD, IL (November 21, 2022) - UIS's Speech and Debate Team attended their third tournament of the 22-23 competition season. The Online Asynchronous Tournament Series (OATS) is a season long set of competitions hosted asynchronously by Southwest Minnesota State University. The OATS 3 tournament took place from November 14th to November 18th and had 55 teams from across the nation in attendance.

Returning competitors Meghan Vlcek and Lisette Cortes-Benitez represented UIS at this tournament, competing in extemporaneous speaking and poetry interpretation respectively. To participate in this virtual competition, students recorded themselves presenting their speech and uploaded the videos for the judges to review.

"Our performance at this competition was similar to our previous tournament" notes Director Timothy Bill. "As the season progresses, our goal is always to improve our scores. However, if we can at least maintain our scores, we can work on improving at the next competition."

The UIS Speech and Debate Team is open to undergraduate students of any major on campus. If you are interested in learning more about the team or finding out how to get involved, please email Director Bill via the address listed below.

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 creating change in their communities. Students who are interested in joining the team should reach out to the coach Timothy Bill (tbill2@uis.edu) or check out the Speech & Debate website.