The Great Debate
Gators get an Inside Look at Politics
This article was originally published in the November 2004 issue of CLASnotes
Of the 73 college delegates at the National Student Vice Presidential Debate, only eight were chosen to argue the issues in the live debate on October 4. UF was the only university to have more than one student serve as a live debator. Pictured here, from left to right, are all eight students with the event’s moderator, CNN’s Judy Woodruff: Adam Hosmer-Henner, Duke University; Max Miller, UF; Ken Nesmith, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cedric Logan, University of Rochester; Judy Woodruff, CNN anchor; Fitzgerald Heslop, Fisk University; Shaan Ghandi, Case Western Reserve University; LaToya Edwards, UF; and Sarah David, Johns Hopkins University.
There may not have been a clear winner of the vice presidential debate between incumbent Dick Cheney and Senator John Edwards on October 5, but Kellie Roberts, director of the UF Speech and Debate Team, says the University of Florida stole the show at the 2004 National Student Vice Presidential Debate, which took place at Case Western Reserve University on the days leading up to the Cheney-Edwards face-off.
As part of the festivities surrounding the only vice presidential debate this election cycle, UF was one of 15 universities asked to participate in the Race at Case—a program of activities organized by Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, the chosen venue of the Cheney-Edwards debate. “When we got the invitation to be part of this event, I knew it was a big deal,” says Roberts. “But I didn’t realize how big a deal it really was until we arrived. We had no concept of how unique and how special it was that we were invited.”
UF President Bernie Machen and Michael Rollo, associate vice president for student affairs, chose a delegation of five students to take part in the event, including two members of the UF Speech and Debate Team—political science and public relations junior LaToya Edwards and economics junior Scott Stewart. The other three campus leaders chosen to join the group were history and English senior Max Miller, a Truman Scholar; classics and finance senior Bryson Ridgway, president of the Student Senate; and religion senior Jamal Sowell, student body president. As director of the UF Speech and Debate Team and interim director of the Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication, Roberts was asked to lead the delegation.
In addition to UF, 14 other schools from across the nation converged on the Case Western Reserve campus the first week of October to debate the issues central to the 2004 presidential campaign. UF was one of only a few public universities invited to participate. Other schools included Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Duke University, Emory University, Fisk University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Miami, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ohio State University, University of Rochester, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Case Western Reserve University.
Upon arriving in Cleveland, the group of 73 delegates from across the nation split into two political parties—Democratic and Republican, depending on personal preference. Each party elected a chair, press secretary and party secretary and formed four policy groups to prepare for debate on key issues—domestic policy, the economy, national security and social issues. “When we arrived on campus, our Gators just took off,” Roberts says. “They sought out leadership positions immediately.”
Ridgway was elected chair of the economic subcommittee for the Republican Party. On the Democratic side, the delegates elected Edwards chair of the subcommittee on domestic issues and Stewart secretary of the subcommittee on the economy.
During the live student debate on October 4, which was later televised on C-SPAN, Edwards and Miller represented their peers as two of eight debaters chosen to argue the views of their subcommittee during the actual debate. UF was the only university to have more than one student take part in the live debate. Edwards debated for the Democrats on domestic issues and Miller for the same party on social issues. CNN’s Judy Woodruff, in front of an audience of 500, moderated the 90-minute event.
“The most remarkable aspect of this experience was being able to watch these students really get involved in the process,” says Roberts. “I doubt that any of them had ever been to an event like this before, so to watch them really dig deep into the issues and the evidence, facts and opinions on the issues and then develop a platform that represented them and that would uphold the Constitution was very fulfilling. And our Florida delegation was just shining.”
During the afternoon following the National Student Vice Presidential Debate, only a few hours prior to Cheney and Edwards taking the stage, reporter Judy Woodruff interviewed UF’s own LaToya Edwards live on CNN, along with three other debaters from the night before. “It was the most amazing moment of the trip for me,” Edwards says. “Only four participants out of this sea of incredibly intelligent students were chosen. I was beside myself with excitement and pride. I remember sitting on the stage with Judy saying to me, ‘So, Miss Edwards, University of Florida, what are your thoughts?’ and it suddenly hit me that I was not just representing myself or my team, but the whole university. That is a huge responsibility, but exciting nonetheless!”
Edwards and Miller—along with the six other debaters—were the only people involved in the student debate invited to attend the Cheney-Edwards debate. Everyone else enjoyed a VIP reception where they watched the debate together on a big screen. “We probably had more fun than they did,” laughs Roberts. “We were able to eat and laugh and hoot and holler at the debate while those attending the actual event had to sit in their seats, stiff as a board, for the 90-minute televised event.”
Though the National Student Vice Presidential Debate is now history, the UF delegation says it will not soon forget the experience. “I will take away great memories and a better understanding of both sides of the political spectrum’s ideology,” says Ridgway. Miller says he came back to Florida with an eye-opening view of American politics. “It was a good experience for me in that I started to understand the rigidity of party dogma, and I found with my debate preparation that it does not come down to taking a stand on an issue, but spinning it correctly. For this reason, I highly doubt I will ever be involved with party politics, and instead will focus on issue advocacy.”
For Edwards, the event was a great networking opportunity. “I am convinced that I have now made connections with the future movers and shakers of my generation,” she says. “They were all so impressive, insightful and energized about politics. I know many of them will run for office, and when they do, I will gladly give them my vote.”
According to Roberts, many of today’s successful politicians, lawyers, journalists and entertainers first learned how to make arguments and give speeches on their college debate teams, including Janet Reno, Richard Nixon, Tom Ridge, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Brokaw and Johnny Cochran. At UF, the Speech and Debate Team has helped fine-tune the speaking skills of US Senator Bob Graham and former US Senator George Smathers.
Housed under the Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the UF Speech and Debate Team is open to all undergraduates and competes nationally against other colleges and universities from September to April each year. It prepares students for three areas of debate—policy/team debate, parliamentary debate and individual speech and oral interpretation events. Travel is funded entirely by UF Student Government, covering all transportation, hotel and entrance fee costs for the debaters.
Roberts has coached the team for the past 17 years and serves as its director, van driver, travel coordinator and bookkeeper. “I am frugal,” she says. “Some might even call me a tightwad when we travel. We certainly pack in those hotel rooms and minivans so that we are able to do this. Our travel budget is small in comparison to our counterparts who are able to fly everywhere when we cannot. I will drive 15 hours one-way, but beyond that we fly. We try not to have the students miss class, but that does happen. Most of the other programs in the Southeast have major scholarships for the students that compete for them and very large budgets for travel. We are working with our alumni in hopes of providing scholarships in the future.”
Typically 70–80 students get involved with the team each year, though not all travel and compete in events. Before Roberts will allow a debater to compete in a national event involving air travel, he or she must have a strong performance record at the regional level. Roberts, however, takes as many students as she can pack in a minivan to regional competitions.
“Debate is an amazing activity,” she says. “A lot of students get involved because they did it at the high school level and they are addicted. But we have many students who seek us out because they want to enhance their speech skills. Having a competitive speech program at a major university is a very important characteristic, I believe, because it demonstrates that our extracurricular activities can be academic and skill building.”
Students interested in joining the UF Speech and Debate Team are invited to attend one of its weekly meetings, held each Tuesday at 6:15 pm in room 211 of Rolfs Hall. Visit http://grove.ufl.edu/~debate/ for more information.
—Buffy Lockette
Photo:
Robert Muller, Case Western Reserve University