The Park University Speech and Debate Team participated in the Missouri Association of Forensics Activities (MAFA) State Championship at Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo., on Feb. 9 and 10. The team placed third overall in the President’s division at the tournament against 18 other teams.
Adam Wilkins, a senior nursing major, has had a great season. At the MAFA tournament, Wilkins was named the Missouri Champion in Original Oratory. He will return to the Interstate Oratorical Contest in April for the second time in three years. He took third place in varsity individual International Public Debate (IPDA) and fifth speaker overall in varsity IPDA. He took second in Extemporaneous Speaking.
Wilkins has been in the speech and debate community since elementary days as a homeschool student. He has many friends from his early youth competitions that currently go to other colleges, but all compete in speech and debate. “The downtime in tournaments lets us hangout and reconnect,” said Wilkins, “and that’s really great because I don’t get to see those guys any other time.”
Being a senior nursing major has caused some complications in Wilkins’ ability to complete both his nursing clinicals and the speech and debate tournaments. Lora Cohn, Ph.D, the Park Speech and Debate coach, and Janine Wilson, an associate professor of nursing, have worked together to ensure that Wilkins was able to do both.
Wilkins has been involved with the Park University Speech and Debate Team since fall 2021. He has served as president and is currently the vice president of the team. He has been a committed team member since he began, said Cohn.
The other members of the team also performed well at the tournament. Ashlee Dureka, a freshman in accounting, took sixth in Oratory. Dureka and Dani Burg, also a freshman in accounting, went to semi-finals in novice team IPDA. Martin T. Roberson, a secondary education major sophomore and president of the team, took second in junior varsity individual IPDA.
