New & Noteworthy
MSU speech and debate team excels in both speech and debate

The MSU Speech and Debate Team competed in three tournaments this weekend. At the District IV tournament for individual speaking events (hosted by The University of Alabama), Dawn Jackson placed 5th in the final round of impromptu speaking, and 6th in the final round of informative. Nate Williams placed 7th in the final round of extemporaneous speaking. Delaney Reed placed 3rd in Poetry Interpretation, which qualifies her to compete alongside teammate Mia Robertson in the prestigious AFA-NIET tournament later this spring.
At the Black Warrior Invitational, in Tuscaloosa on Sunday, Jackson placed 5th in impromptu and 4th in informative speaking, Williams placed 4th in extemporaneous speaking, Reed placed 2nd in poetry interpretation, and Robertson earned 1st place in persuasive speaking. The team earned the 3rd place team sweepstakes award.
The debate squad competed at Arkansas Tech University. Josh McCoy and Alicia Brown paired up for team debate, finishing as semi finalists in the second swing of the tournament. Brown won the 2nd place speaker award for this swing, while McCoy won the same award in the first swing. Mayukh Datta finished as a quarterfinalist in the novice division, and earned the 5th place speaker award. Tyler Melvin and Nirmal Bhatt finished as quarterfinalists in the junior varsity division. Bhatt also earned the 5th place speaker award for JV. In addition to team debate, Alicia Brown competed in the varsity debate division and finished as a semi finalist. Her effort throughout the weekend resulted in winning the Top Performer Cup. Overall, the team combined to earn the 2nd place debate sweepstakes award.