LIBERTY, Mo. – Mercer University debaters Daniel Alvarez and Keanu Lowo defeated several of the top debate teams in the country en route to a fourth-place finish at the National Round Robin, which took place March 3-5 at William Jewell College.
Alvarez, a junior, and Lowo, a sophomore, bested duos from Concordia University, who won the Point Loma Round Robin in February, in addition to the University of California, Berkeley, and several other elite debate programs.
“This is a brutal tournament,” said Dr. Vasile Stanescu, director of debate. “It is limited to only two teams from each institution, and there is an entire preliminary tournament just to decide who gets to compete in the Round Robin. The teams that attend are the top debate teams in the entire nation.”
Juniors Kyle Bligen and Jaz Buckley also represented Mercer among the 23-team field, which included debaters from Appalachian State University, Concordia, Grand Canyon University, Missouri Western State University, UC Berkeley, Saint Mary's College, Texas Tech University, the University of Texas at Tyler, the University of North Texas, Washburn University, Wheaton College and William Jewell.
Mercer's debate team will conclude the season March 23-26 at the National Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship Tournament, hosted this year by Colorado College.
