Hofstra University’s Speech and Debate team traveled to Ithaca, New York from Feb. 22-23 to compete in two tournaments hosted by Cornell University. The Big Red Tournament of Love was held on Saturday, while the Southern and Northern Atlantic Forensic Union’s eighth competition of the year (SNAFU #8) was held on Sunday, with Hofstra earning multiple team and individual top finishes in both tournaments.
On both days, Hofstra earned first place as an overall team, first for debate and second for the individual events team sweepstakes.
“They did really, really, well. [I’m] very proud of them,” said Tomeka Robinson, team director and Hofstra professor of rhetoric and public advocacy..
Jack Dalrymple was the Pride’s top finisher at the Big Red Tournament, earning first in both the Dramatic Interpretation and Impromptu Speaking events with 72 and 73 points respectively, while Alexis Hughes also finished on top in the Program Oral Interpretation event with 71 points.
In the debate portion of the competition, Arielle Ruiz — arguing the negative — placed second for the Pride, falling to Ricky LaSelle of Queens College, 2-1 in the final round.
Richard Caldwell also earned silver in Extemporaneous Speaking, as Hofstra placed at least one student in the top six in 10 of the events.
On the second day of competition, Hofstra saw more top finishes as Hughes claimed gold in Program Oral Interpretation for the second day in a row and teammate Imani Thompson trailed behind earning second. Hughes also claimed second in Poetry Interpretation.
Caldwell improved to gold in Extemporaneous Speaking at SNAFU #8, as Richkisha Walcott won Poetry Interpretation and Alex Dersh won the debate event, with Hofstra also claiming places two through five in the debate.
Overall, Hofstra placed at least one student in the top six in seven of the events on Sunday.
“[We] spend a lot of time with our students [practicing] before they go to competition to make sure that they’re as ready as possible because we have created a brand of what a Hofstra Speech and Debate student looks like,” Robinson said.
Judging for the competition is based on a variety of factors including one’s annunciation, how one presents and utilizes the words in their speech, as well as their movement and technique, among other factors.
“It’s very technical. They want it to be competitive,” said freshman public relations major Blaise Rowlands. “They want people to break norms. They want people to think outside the box and think of something creative and moving.”
Rowlands placed fifth in Prose Interpretation on Saturday and sixth in Poetry Interpretation on Sunday at Cornell.
Hard work paid off for Hofstra as they dominated the competition earning multiple trophies.
Robinson’s favorite part of her role as coach is when they get that first trophy. Not even the trophy [necessarily], the first break [advancing to the quarter final or final round of the event] and seeing their faces and them realizing that the hard work actually pays off and that we’re not just being mean to them when we critique them a lot.”
However, while everyone is focused and striving to do their best, Rowlands considers the community to still be extremely welcoming and supportive.
“We were all waiting for awards, anxious about what we were going to get after our final rounds, and we all started putting on high school dance music. We started doing the Cotton Eyed Joe and a ton of songs like that,” Rowlands said. “It was just a really good bonding moment [for] us and a lot of the other teams that we don’t get to see a lot like George Mason or Cornell.”
“It was a really special moment, especially because we were interacting with seniors that are graduating,” continued Rowlands. “It was very sentimental.”
The team had plans to compete next in Japan but had to cancel the trip due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. However, they will still travel cross-country to California from Mar. 27-30 to compete at the national Pi Kappa Delta competition, hosted by San Diego State University.
