Irvine Valley College Speech and Debate Team

11/24/2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljNM-ybSRHE

IVC Speech is so proud of our collaboration with iDebate Rwanda! Let us know if you agree or disagree with the resolution!

11/19/2020

This past weekend, IVC's team competed at the Griffin Invitational, hosted by Grossmont College. We are so thankful to them for running an awesome tournament, and also overjoyed to announce that every IE entry we took broke to a final round. Here are those results!

N. IMPROMPTU
Aine Molvik - 4th
Gowtham Krishnakumar- CHAMPION

N. PERSUASIVE
Katherine Patrick - 4th

OPEN PERSUASIVE
Seadona Taloma - 3rd

N. EXTEMP
Aine Molvik - 4th
Gowtham Krishnakumar - 3rd

09/11/2020

Do you need more info about the CA Propositions? You're in luck! The IVC Forensics Team is hosting a three-part debate series about Props 21, 16, and 22. The below link will take you to a page to register to watch the Zoom debates!

http://www.ivc.edu/events/Pages/default.aspx?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D147830727

09/14/2018

On Thursday September 13, Irvine Valley College Forensics made history by hosting the Rwanda national debate team on campus. The tour began with a stop at the CAANAPI center where the Rwandans provided insight to IVC students regarding the Rwanda Genocide, answered questions from students, and taught the audience a cultural dance. Project Director of Elevate, Eddie Tiongson stated, “We were so honored to hear the Rwandan team share their stories surrounding the genocide and how they rebuilt their culture. The students really connected with the Rwandans and were eager to engage in their celebratory dance.” Following the cultural demonstration, the Rwandan team took to the main stage in the Performing Arts Center to engage in an international showcase debate against members of the IVC Speech Team. The topic of the evening was “Resolved: the International Criminal Court does more harm than good.” Over 160 individuals attended the cultural exchange including Chancellor Kathleen F. Burke, Trustee Ma**ca Milchiker, and President Glen Roquemore. Co-director of forensics Bill Neesen said, “with the current debate regarding the effectiveness of the ICC being discussed by our United States administration, it was wonderful to be able to deliberate this topic with individuals who had personal experience with international organizations and coping with genocide.”
The IVC Speech team has been a leader among community colleges in international debate having hosted their first international demonstration with the Chinese national team on campus in 1998. Since that time, the team has hosted 20 international debates including teams from countries such as England, Ireland, and Japan. The Rwanda national team marks the first time IVC Speech has hosted a country from an African nation. The IVC speech team will next participate at the PSCFA Warm-Up Tournament at El Camino College on September 22nd. Those interested in joining the speech and debate team are encouraged to contact Jules French at, or Bill Neesen at [email protected].

09/07/2018

09/07/2018

12/16/2016

The Irvine Valley College Speech and Debate Team closed out their busy semester by competing at the 2016 Fall PSCFA League Championship Tournament on December 2nd-4th. This was the largest tournament the IVC Speech Team has competed in all semester with 40 colleges and universities in attendance and over 1,000 entries in the tournament. Coincidentally, this was also the largest number of IVC students competing at a tournament this semester with almost 60 IVC students participating in various debate and public speaking events!

IVC Forensics closed out the fall semester in style by taking home 24 awards in IPDA and NPDA debate, public address, and limited preparation speeches. Newcomers to speech and debate, Paige Burbank and Natalie Reyna, had a particularly successful tournament. The duo competed in rookie NPDA debate in which students are given merely 20 minutes to research a topic and prepare a case with their partner against their opposition. Debaters then compete in at least four rounds of competition. Paige and Natalie breezed past their opponents and were undefeated at the tournament. Moreover, Paige took the top honor and was named 1st Place NPDA Speaker, while her partner Natalie was named 3rd place speaker.

Also among the many award winners was Alexis Sutterman, who competed in extemporaneous speaking. This speech event involves assigning a student a topic and giving him or her merely 30 minutes to research and prepare a 7 minute speech with ample use of evidence. Alexis was

among 49 students competing in the event, however she defeated all of her competition and was named 1st Place Novice Extemporaneous Speaker. Alexis exclaimed, “It was only my second time competing in extemporaneous speaking, so I was really nervous to make it to finals. I didn’t expect to take 1st place, but now that I did I am really excited and motivated to keep practicing!” Alexis plans to transfer to Chapman University and continue to compete in speech and debate.

Fall PSCFA League Championship Award Winners

NPDA Debate Awards:

Paige Burbank & Natalie Reyna- Gold Medalists in Rookie Debate Daniel Alyright & Salham Habib- Bronze Medalists in Rookie Debate Nika & Niusha Hajikhodaverdikhan- Bronze Medalists in Novice Debate Sasha Rongahi & Katrya Ly- Bronze Medalists in Junior Debate
NPDA Individual Speaker Awards:

Paige Burbank- 1st Speaker in Rookie Debate Natalie Reyna- 3rd Speaker in Rookie Debate Katrya Ly- 6th Speaker in Junior Debate
Sasha Rongahi- 7th Speaker in Junior Debate

IPDA Debate Awards:

Meaghan Loeffler- Gold Medalist in Senior IPDA Debate Rishi Malhotra- Bronze Medalist in Senior IPDA Debate Individual Event Awards:
Alexis Sutterman- 1st Place in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking

Natasha Calilung- 2nd Place in Communication Analysis and 3rd Speaker in Junior
Extemporaneous Speaking

Meaghan Loeffler- 5th Place in Senior Extemporaneous Speaking

Asha Taylor- Finalist in Senior Persuasion

Katrya Ly- Finalist in Junior Extemporaneous Speaking Mindy Kang- Finalist in Novice Impromptu Speaking Rami Hasan- Finalist in Novice Impromptu Speaking

The speech team has several upcoming events in the month of January. On January 14th IVC Forensics will have the opportunity to give back by serving as judges in a tournament directed by Magnet Learning Academy. The tournament is open to elementary, middle school, and high school students to compete in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Public Forum Debate. Moreover, on January 21st-22nd the team will return to Orange Coast College to participate in the Close to the Coast Speech Invitational. February will also be a busy month for the team as they will be
hosting the Chinese National Debate Team. The public is invited on February 15th to watch IVC
Forensics take on the Chinese National Team in the Performing Arts Center.

Those interested in joining the speech and debate team are encouraged to contact Director of Forensics, Jules French, at (949)451-5329 [email protected], or Forensics Coach Bill Neesen at (949)451-5235 [email protected].

12/16/2016

IVC Speech and Debate Team Takes Rare Triple Gold! The Irvine Valley College Speech and Debate Team had its best tournament of the season thus far at the 2016 Griffin Invitational Speech Tournament held at Grossmont College in San Diego on November 19th and 20th.

Although the tournament got off to a rocky start when the bus taking team to the tournament broke down causing many of the competitors to have to forfeit their first round of competition, the team fought hard and bounced back taking home an astonishing 20 awards over the weekend. These victories were enough to earn the team a sweepstakes award in debate, beating out every community college in attendance and taking second only to Point Loma Nazarene University.

Among the many awards received, three debate teams brought home the gold! The novice debate teams of Chloe Wang and Alexis Sutterman as well as Soriya Rasheed and Sasha Rongahi beat out the rest of their competition to each take a Gold Medal in Novice Parliamentary Debate.



Adding to the victory, the junior team of Natasha Calilung and George Diamantopolis also beat out their competition and both took a Gold Medal in Junior Parliamentary Debate.

Director of Forensics, Jules French, said “I am so impressed with this team. This was an extremely difficult tournament; the days were long and grueling as we left every morning at

6:00am and didn’t return until 10:30pm each night. Additionally, there were 26 colleges and universities in attendance. Some came as far as Texas, Colorado, and Arizona. The fact that our team rose above and took home 20 awards really shows what a talented and impressive team we have this year!”

Griffin Invitational Speech Tournament Award Winners

NPDA Team Debate Awards:

Soriya Rasheed & Sasha Rongahi- Gold Medalists in Novice Debate

Chloe Wang & Alexis Sutterman- Gold Medalists in Novice Debate

Sherry Salama & Maria Robles & Chris Nijthaworn- Bronze Medalists in Novice Debate

Natasha Calilung & George Diamantopolis- Gold Medalists in Junior Debate

Rishi Malhotra (with Kim Perez of Cerritos College)- Silver Medalist in Junior Debate

Meaghan Loeffler & Skyler Meador- Bronze Medalists in Senior Debate

NPDA Individual Speaker Awards:

Meaghan Loeffler- 3rd Speaker in Senior Debate Rishi Malhotra- 5th Speaker in Junior Debate Chloe Wang- 3rd Speaker in Novice Debate Alexis Sutterman- 4th Speaker in Novice Debate Sasha Rongahi- 8th Speaker in Novice Debate Individual Event Awards

Natasha Calilung- Extemporaneous Speaking Yasmin Shokes- 5th in After Dinner Speaking Rishi Malhotra- Silver Medalist in IPDA Debate



The Griffin Invitational was not the only event that the Speech Team participated in during November. The team also competed at the 2016 Robert Barbera Collegiate Forensics Tournament at California State University Northridge on November 4th and 5th. The tournament boasted 25 schools in attendance including University of Utah and Grand Canyon University.

Robert Barbera Collegiate Forensics Tournament Award Winners

NPDA Team Debate Awards:

Katrya Ly & Kevin Grant- Semi-Finalists in Novice Debate Mona Abusir & Nilam Faqir- Quarter-Finalists in Novice Debate NPDA Individual Speaker Awards:

Katrya Ly- 3rd Speaker in Novice Debate

Mona Abusir- 7th Speaker in Novice Debate Kevin Grant- 8th Speaker in Novice Debate Individual Event Awards

Royce Correa- 3rd Place in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking

Sasha Rongahi- Finalist in Novice Impromptu Speaking

Asha Taylor- Finalist in Open Persuasive Speaking

The speech team’s next tournament will be the 2016 PSCFA Fall Championship Tournament held on December 2-4. The team is the 2016 PSCFA League Champions and hope to retain their title this academic year. Those interested in joining the speech and debate team are encouraged to contact Director of Forensics, Jules French, at (949)451-5329 [email protected], or Forensics Coach Bill Neesen at (949)451-5235 [email protected]

11/11/2016

IVC Speech Team Spooks Their Competition in October!


The Irvine Valley College Speech and Debate Team had one of its most eventful months in the history of the prestigious program during October.
The month kicked off with the IVC Speech Team hosting the British National Debate Team. On October 3rd, over 160 students crowded into the Performing Arts Center to watch two IVC debate team members take on the British National Debate Team on the topic Resolved: Hate Speech Should Be Banned on College Campuses. Irvine Valley College was the only community college that the British Team visited during their 8 week stay in the United States. Next February, the IVC Speech Team will continue its leadership in international debate by hosting the Chinese National Debate Team.

On October 8th IVC Forensics gave back to the community by participating in a tournament directed by Magnet Learning Academy. The tournament was open to elementary, middle school, and high school students to compete in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, or Impromptu Speaking. Thirty-seven IVC Forensics students served as judges for the event and provided valuable feedback and speaking tips to the 145 young participants.
On October 14th IVC Forensics directed, judged, and competed in the Gary Rybold Free for Me NPDA Tournament hosted at Concordia University Irvine. The tournament was named after the long-time former Director of Forensics and current chair of the Communication Studies Department, Dr. Gary Rybold. Almost 100 students from 10 different schools participated in the tournament, including Azusa Pacific University, Biola University, and Orange Coast College.
Gary Rybold Free for Me NPDA Tournament Award Winners
NPDA Individual Speaker Awards:
Natasha Calilung- 2nd Speaker in Junior
Katrya Ly- 4th Speaker in Novice
Thiong’o Ngugi- 7th Speaker in Novice
Skyler Meador- 8th Speaker in Senior
NPDA Team Debate Awards:
Natasha Calilung & George Diamantopolis- Silver Medalists in Junior Debate
Katrya Ly & Kevin Grant- Bronze Medalists in Novice Debate
Soriya Rasheed & Thiongo Ngugi- Bronze Medalists in Novice Debate

On October 15th-16th IVC Forensics competed at the Jannese Davidson Memorial Tournament held at Concordia University. Twenty-six schools participated in the strenuous tournament; among those in attendance were Berkeley, Point Loma Nazarene University, and Moorpark College. Newcomers to the team, Soriya Rasheed and Sasha Rongahi, had a particularly successful tournament. Despite the stiff competition, the novices made it all the way to the final round and took second place in Parliamentary Debate. “We have such a great group of talented students,” said Director of Forensics, Jules French, “it is amazing to watch them compete at their very first tournament and dominate in their debate rounds! I am so excited to see what the future holds for these bright students.”

Jannese Davidson Memorial Tournament
NPDA Debate Awards:
Soriya Rasheed & Sasha Rongahi- 2nd Place Novice Debate
Individual Event Awards:
Natasha Calilung- 5th Speaker Junior Debate
Katrya Ly- 3rd Place in Extemporaneous Speaking & Finalist in Impromptu Speaking
Nika Hajikhodaverdikhan- Finalist in Impromptu Speaking

IVC Forensics was at it again on October 21st by participating in the IVC Free 4 Me IDT; a tournament that offered individual debate events, including IPDA and NFA-LD, at completely no cost to the nine schools who participated. IPDA debate offers students the opportunity to select a topic and have a mere 20 minutes to prepare against their opponent. IVC Speech Team member Rishi Malhotra had a particularly successful tournament; Rishi was ranked 1st among 53 other competitors by winning every round in Senior IPDA Debate and was ultimately awarded a Gold Medal.
IVC Free 4 Me IDT Tournament
Rishi Malhotra- Gold in Senior IPDA
Meaghan Loeffler- Silver in Senior IPDA
Colin Squyres- Silver in Senior IPDA
George Diamantopolis- Bronze in Senior IPDA
Zihad Amin- Bronze in Senior IPDA
Skyler Meador- Bronze in Senior IPDA
Katrya Ly- Silver in Novice IPDA
Nancy Herrera- Silver in Novice IPDA

IVC Forensics wrapped up their busy month by competing at the Watson-Lancer Speech Tournament at Pasadena City College on October 29th-30th. At the tournament, 77 students competed in impromptu speaking- an event that requires a student to prepare a speech in just two minutes of preparation time. IVC student Meaghan Loeffler rose above her stiff competition and took 1st place in the limited preparation event! “The students were amazing at their fifth tournament” said coach Bill Neesen, “it was nice to see them work tighter and really support each other”.

Watson Lancer Speech Tournament
Individual Speech Awards:
Meaghan Loeffler- 1st place in Open Impromptu Speaking &
Finalist in Open Extemporaneous Speaking
Natasha Calilung- Finalsit in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking
Kevin Grant- Finalist in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking
Debate Team Awards:
George Diamantopolis & Natasha Calilung- Bronze in Open Parliamentary Debate
Meaghan Loeffler & Skyler Meador- Bronze in Open Parliamentary Debate
Sasha Rongahi & Katrya Ly Bronze in Novice Parliamentary Debate
NPDA Individual Speaker Awards:
Meaghan Loeffler- 3rd Speaker in Senior
Skyler Meador- 5th Speaker in Senior
Sasha Rongahi- 5th Speaker in Novice

The speech team has several upcoming tournaments in the month of November, including the Robert Barbera Speech Invitational hosted by California State University Northridge, and the Griffin Invitational hosted by Grossmont College. Those interested in joining the speech and debate team are encouraged to contact Director of Forensics, Jules French, at (949)451-5329 [email protected], or Forensics Coach Bill Neesen at (949)451-5235 [email protected].

09/22/2016

The British are coming! The British are coming! Come watch the British National Debate Team take on our own IVC debaters on October 3rd at 7pm in the Performing Arts Center!

06/22/2016

IVC Debaters Continue Tradition of
Competing in China
IVC Forensics added to its reputation as the top community college in international debate by competing at two tournaments in China this summer. The team got on an early morning flight the day after the 2016 graduation and spent the next two weekends debating at Beijing Foreign Studies University and Xi’an International Studies University. This is the school’s eighth academic trip to China since 2000. The 25 students and instructors on this trip brought the total to 125 IVC participants over the past 16 years.
IVC students were paired up with Chinese partners to form “Friendship Teams.” Debaters and judges attended training in British Parliamentary Debate and participated in four rounds. The top four teams competed in a final round. Eight IVC students won awards at the two tournaments. Five students were in the two final rounds: Skyler Meador, Jessica Lardenoit, Kristina Reitveld, Christine Lee, and Meaghan Loeffler. Speaker awards were also taken by James Kuhlman, Natasha Caliliung, and Zihad Amin.
“I was very proud of the students on this tour. Not only did they fund raise the entire amount of the tour costs, they put in the extra effort to have a meaningful intercultural experience,” said Dr. Gary Rybold, Chair of the Communication Studies Department and coordinator of the tour. “They had different Chinese partners in each city and went through training together and even shared meals.”
Along with training and tournaments the team toured Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. The team enjoyed great Chinese cuisine, took four boat trips and traveled via bullet trains. The 17-day tour also included trips to the terra cotta warriors, the Forbidden City, and the Bund. Everyone on the trip seemed to also love shopping, picking up some bargains on silk, art, and fans.