College of Education and Behavioral Sciences News

WKU Forensics Team members competed at Webster University’s Gorlok Gala. Back row, from left: Caroline Chubb, Rashon Leday, Danielle Williams, Collin Tuerk, Miles Morton, Julie Mishchuk, Imam Brula, Rae Fournier, Evan Grisham; front row, from left: Denise Marine, Micah Poole, Noah Gordon, Benjamin Williams, Antonina Clementi, Andre Swai, Tanya Prabhakar, Hannah Jones, JaKayla Brown.

The WKU Forensics Team captured first place in Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the 25th annual Gorlok Gala, hosted by Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, January 27-29.

Twenty-seven schools from 18 states attended the competition, one of the largest of the invitational season.

Senior Tanya Prabhakar of Danville, California, defeated the top competitor from Lafayette College in the final four round on Open Lincoln-Douglas Debate on a unanimous 3-0 decision. On the other side of the bracket, first-year student Rae Fournier of Woodbridge, Virginia, and senior Andre Swai of Springfield, Missouri, “locked out” as the other top four finishers in the tournament. After Prabhakar’s win, only WKU students were left in the competition, and WKU closed out the final round. 

WKU also made the final round of the junior varsity and novice division, with first-year student JaKayla Brown of Kansas City, Kansas, winning the final round of Novice Lincoln-Douglas debate against McKendree University.

“Webster University’s tournament is special,” Director of Debate Chad Meadows said. “It’s been an annual event for a quarter century, and has become the premier invitational tournament for Lincoln-Douglas debate. When I saw the entry list for this year’s tournament, I was so excited but admittedly a bit nervous because our competition was fierce. But our students had confidence in their abilities and I’m pleased they once again rose to the occasion.”

The WKU Forensics Team took first in Debate Sweepstakes for their collective efforts as a team in debate, ahead of Morehouse and Whitman College. In combined sweepstakes, WKU took second overall. 

The team will compete this weekend at a tournament hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Results from the “Gorlok” are as follows:

• Lincoln-Douglas Debate Speaker: Tanya Prabhakar, 4th; Miles Morton of Sherman Oaks, California, 9th.
• Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Andre Swai, Co-Champion; Tanya Prabhakar, Co-Champion, Rae Fournier, Top-4; Miles Morton, Top 16.
• Junior Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Imam Brula of Bowling Green, Kentucky, 2nd.
• Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate: JaKayla Brown, Champion; Julie Mishchuk of Nicholasville, Kentucky, Top 4.
• Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate Speaker: JaKayla Brown, 3rd.
• Duo Interpretation: Noah Gordon of Pittsburg, California, and Collin Tuerk of Morehead, Kentucky, 2nd.
• Persuasive Speaking: Rashon Leday of Lafayette, Louisiana, 2nd.
• Poetry: Danielle Williams of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, 3rd.
• Prose: Micah Poole of Lafayette, Louisiana, 2nd.

More: Check out the WKU Forensics Facebook page or follow @wkuforensics  and @DebateWku on Twitter.

Contact: Ganer Newman. (270) 745-6340

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Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.