Forensics and Debate Team Wins National Championship
May 21, 2025
The Webster Forensics and Debate team finished the year with another winning season, garnering 81 awards. The team took home 18 championships, including a state and national championship, as well as a national runner up award. Among the championships the team won was their impressive showing at the invitation-only tournament hosted by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in St. Louis, Missouri. The team went undefeated at the NGA tournament, winning all judges’ ballots and beating the University of Missouri in the final round.
The forensics team also earned 11 team sweepstakes awards in the team sweepstakes category for the year. The Forensics and Debate team traveled March 12-17 to the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament, where their success continued. The team competed in a field of 54 schools and over 1,900 entries, with most events having around 200 entrants.
Director of Forensics Gina Jensen stated, “What makes our success so impressive is that we don’t just compete against other Division III schools— we also compete against Division I and II schools.”
Among the universities in competition were Bosie State University, Louisiana State University and McNeese State University.
Senior sports communication major Jonathan Arens led the team in awards this year, taking home a national championship in extemporaneous commentary, a national runner-up award in extemporaneous speaking, fifth place in persuasive speaking and an excellent award in impromptu speaking. Arens was also the Missouri state champion in persuasive speaking, earning him one of two seats for the nation’s oldest speech contest—the Interstate Oratorical Contest, which began in 1874.
The Forensics Team finished its first year back in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.