McKendree University Speech and Debate

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McKendree University Speech and Debate

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The McKendree University Speech and Debate Team competes in intercollegiate tournaments in the US.

The McKendree University speech and debate team competes in collegiate Speech and Debate across the US. The team primarily competes in Individual Events (PKD, NSC, NFA) and Parliamentary Debate (NPDA, NPTE).

10/22/2026

McKendree University's Aidan Bradley & Ari Carney are currently the 11th ranked NPDA debate team in the nation. They posted winning records and advanced to final rounds at their first two tournaments at Rice University (Houston, TX) and Lewis & Clark College (Portland, OR). Congrats, Aidan & Ari!

10/18/2026

A little late to post, but we had two excellent team performances last weekend, taking 1st Place at Morton College's debate tournament and 3rd Place at McHenry College's speech tournament. Special congrats to Hayley Wise and Jake Ruble on multiple 1st Place finishes at their first intercollegiate tournament! Full results below:

Hayley Wise: 1st Place and 1st Speaker in Junior Public Debate, 1st Place in Drama, 2nd Place in Impromptu, 5th Place in Extemporaneous, 3rd Place in Individual Sweepstakes

Jake Ruble: 1st Place and 1st Speaker in Novice Public Debate, 1st Place in Impromptu Sales, Top Novice in Individual Sweepstakes

Nevaeh Papp: 3rd Place in Impromptu Sales, 4th Place in Program Oral Interpretation

Lily Joslin: 4th Place in Prose, 5th Place in Persuasion

Dawid Boles: 2nd Place in Junior Public Debate

Hannah Boland: 2nd Place in Novice Public Debate

Landan Carper: 2nd Speaker in Novice Public Debate

10/07/2026

Speech & Debate season is in full swing!

-IPDA started with a virtual tournament hosted by Arkansas State with Cade and Dawid making their varsity debuts and Anna Rose and Jayla rounding out the crew.
-IEs started virtually at Illinois State with Jay, Hayley, Nevaeh, Ava, and Lily competing.
-NPDA started with Rice University in Houston, TX for Ari and Aidan - who are ranked 16th in the nation by the NPTE after their first weekend.

Spirits are high for the biggest team in McKendree Speech & Debate history

09/09/2026

Congratulations to McKendree University Speech & Debate students Ari Carney and Aidan Bradley on being awarded Dr. William and Linda Haskins Debate Scholarships for 2026-2027! Ari is a senior from Granite City, IL, while Aidan is a sophomore from Belleville, IL.

Last year, Ari and Aidan qualified for the prestigious National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence. They will open their 26-27 season at Rice University in Houston, TX on October 3-4. Go Bearcats!

07/30/2026

Congratulations, and thank you, to Lance Allen on an amazing speech and debate career (2009-2013) and an equally impressive run as a coach of speech (all genres), debate (at least five formats), Model UN, etc. at McKendree University. We know that you'll still be around but we want to sincerely thank you for your 17 (!) years of service. Go Bearcats!

07/23/2026

McKendree University Speech & Debate is excited to welcome NINE incoming students from the Southern Illinois Debate League this fall!

Joining us from Belleville East HS are Sam Lo, JJ Santos, Akira Butler, and Ethan Dunnebacke, coached by Joe Blasdel, Molly Morgan, and Kyle Garrett.

Joining us from Granite City HS are Jay Banks, Hayley Wise, and Carleigh Graham, coached by Amy Pennell and Gina Bright.

Joining us from Belleville West HS are Jayla Hunt-Williams and Lily Humphrey, coached by Brandon Hentze and Rebecca Huller.

Go Bearcats!

05/27/2026

Registration for the Bearcat Debate Institute closes on July 3! $300 gets you a week of practice with the award-winning coaching staff of McKendree University Speech & Debate and practice rounds against your peers from the area.

All of the information can be found on the Tabroom page for the camp.

05/09/2026

McKendree’s Commencement yesterday was an opportunity to celebrate our seniors as they become our newest alumni. This group has played a huge role in the revitalization of the team and we’re looking forward to all of their successes to come.

04/28/2026

Every season, we have an end of year gathering for the team to celebrate their achievements, to decompress before finals, to send off our excellent seniors, and to reflect on the year.

Join us in celebrating this year’s team and our yearly award winners:
Richard Hunsaker Award for Outstanding Performance in Parliamentary Debate: Aidan Bradley and Ari Carney
Eddie Myers Award for Outstanding Performance in Individual Events: Anna Rose Sheehan and Ava Schmollinger
Most Improved Award: C. Houck
Top Novices: Dawid Boles and Nevaeh Papp

And special thanks to our graduating members: Elan, Garrett, Gracie, Holden, Jada, Jordan, and Tyson.

04/23/2026

Today is Academic Excellence Celebration on McKendree's campus and 8 of our students performed for their peers and professors. We started off with Zack and Nevaeh showing off their prose pieces. Then the crowd was treated to Ava's ADS and an impromptu speech from Anna Rose. Finally, Cath, Meera, Ari, and Aidan put on a demonstration debate about environmental protections in the Arctic.

Academic Excellence Celebration is always a fun and enlightening endcap to the academic year and we always appreciate the opportunity to show the skills, pieces, and arguments we've spent the year developing.

Address

Lebanon, IL
62254

Website

http://www.mckendree.edu/speech-debate

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