UIS Completes Series of OATS Tournaments

SPRINGFIELD, IL (March 30, 2021) – The UIS Speech and Debate team has been participating in the Online Asynchronous Tournament Series (OATS) this season. These tournaments offer consistent, asynchronous tournament experiences against teams from across the nation. Over the past week, sophomore Lisette Cortes-Benitez entered the seventh and final competition of this series.

Cortes-Benitez continued to earn high marks for her informative speech examining the Mendez v. Westminster Supreme Court case. One of her judges noted that this speech is ‘very timely’ and that it is ‘always so important to be held accountable for our history and what we can learn from it.’ While Cortes-Benitez did not advance to the final rounds, the comments and critiques from judges at this tournament will help the team prepare for the final competition of the semester in a few weeks.

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. Students who are interested in joining the team should reach out to the coach Timothy Bill (tbill2@uis.edu) or check out the team website at Speech and Debate site.