On Nov. 1, ETSU’s Speech and Debate Team hosted its third annual Terror on the Tweetsie Tournament. The event was supported by the Department of Communication Studies and Storytelling and the College of Arts and Sciences for another successful year.
The Terror on the Tweetsie Tournament first began as a collaboration between Milligan University and ETSU, with the goal of introducing another tournament to the region for students. Since the director of debate at Milligan is a fan of the horror genre and the tournament typically takes place around late October or early November, they decided to make the event Halloween-themed.
“We called it Terror on the Tweetsie because the Tweetsie Railroad connects Johnson City and where Milligan is located,” said Donna Taylor, director of ETSU’s Speech and Debate team. “And then we thought, ‘Well, wouldn’t it be fun for students to be able to dress in costume?’ Because at a lot of tournaments, they just wear professional business suits. And we thought it’d be fun to come in costume and just sort of celebrate the season since it’s the last tournament of the year.”
The all-day tournament welcomed students from the region to the ETSU campus, including teams from Tusculum University, Walters State Community College and Northeast State Community College.
Students competed in teams of two with 15 minutes to research their given topic and resolution before debating in front of a judge.
“ETSU has a very strong debate team, and one of our primary goals is to just spread our love of debating to the region. We want everyone to feel welcome, feel like they had a really enjoyable experience and that they were able to participate in a sport that they love,” Taylor said.
ETSU’s team won the 1st Place Team Sweepstakes Award, the top honor among participating schools, as well as several other awards. Among those were the 1st Place Novice Team with Elle Webb and Colin Dougherty, 1st Place Varsity Speaker with Evan Dombrowsky and 1st Place Varsity Team with Riley Axelrod and Nic Willis.
Since the tournament was Halloween-themed, they also presented unique awards for Best Individual Costume and Best Team Spirit. This year’s Team Spirit Award went to Webb and Dougherty, who were dressed as a wizard and a princess he had turned into a frog.
“I had a great time,” said Per Selander, a member of ETSU’s Speech and Debate Team. “The tournament went very smoothly, and it’s always great to see competitors from other teams. We had a good showing, and I think the environment was inviting to new competitors. Because it was Halloween-themed, the team all dressed up as Renaissance Faire characters, so we had fun coordinating those costumes.”
The Speech and Debate Team meets every Thursday from 5-7 p.m. in Culp 311 and welcomes anyone interested in learning more about debating or the club. They can also be found on Instagram @speechanddebateatetsu.
“The ETSU Speech and Debate Team has an open-door policy,” Taylor said. “Undergraduate students are welcome to come anytime and meet us, meet the team, participate in whatever activity we’re doing in the club and just learn more about what we do.”
