The University of Vermont's endowed debate program, the Lawrence Debate Union, is housed within the Theatre Department in the College of Arts and Sciences. While the team is almost always a top national competitor, this semester has been a most fruitful one for what is one of the largest debate programs in America, with 43 students who have attended tournaments (according to debateresults.com). The national debate topic this year concerns U.S. policy towards China.

The LDU has placed at tournaments twelve times this semester, and has won three tournaments outright. Stephanie Kimerer (last year's novice national champion) and Jeffrey Wilson (a first-year student from New York City) started the year out well by winning first place at the Buffalo tournament. While this was impressive and important, two other first-place performances also stand out. Nick Landsman-Roos and Jason Hitchcock won the prestigious West Point Tournament with a record of 9-1, defeating Boston College 2-1 in a final round judged by a general, a colonel, and a former national security advisor in the White House. This allowed UVM to take possession of "the sword" (an antique army saber in a handsome wooden chest) for the next year. Finally, UVM got its first international tournament victory in memory when Jake Meany teamed with Simon Grabrovec of Slovenia to win the tournament at the International Debate Academy held in Slovenia and attended by debaters from seventeen different nations.

Although results have been good, they are a bit deceptive, according to Alfred "Tuna" Snider, Edwin Lawrence Professor of Forensics and LDU Director. "Most of our debaters compete in a higher division than they are eligible for. Many of our novice first-year debaters compete in junior varsity, while almost all of our junior varsity second-year debaters compete in varsity. I can't say how many more awards we would have won if they had debated in the division they are eligible for, but I am sure it would have been a lot more. Our students are targeted on the end of the year tournaments because they want to be novice and junior varsity national champions, not win some easy awards now. I really admire them for that." Last year the LDU won first and second place at the novice national championships and also won the junior varsity national championship for the third year in a row.

In 2006 the LDU will be focusing on making contacts with alumni, saluting Robert Huber, and commemorating the history of debate at UVM. Any alumni reading this should contact Professor Snider at Alfred.snider@uvm.edu.