As a freshman at Harding in 2009, Daniel Hunter, a current senior Public Administration major never envisioned that he would be on the debate team, nor that he would be so successful. When his roommate and one of his suitemates joined the team that year, Hunter said he thought it might be fun for him to do as well.
Today, he is a leader within Harding’s debate team in addition to being one of only two current fourth-year members on the team.
On Saturday, Sept. 29, the Harding debate team traveled to Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark. to participate in the Henderson State Winter Warm-up Intercollegiate Debate Tournament.
For the tournament, students were presented with a topic and then given 30 minutes to prepare for their presentation. After winning five of six preliminary rounds, Hunter advanced to and won the octofinal, after which he proceeded to compete in the quarterfinal.
The topic Hunter was given for the quarterfinal round was “Coffee is better than tea.” By taking the affirmative stance on this topic, Hunter was to address what exactly is considered coffee and tea, as well as what characteristics one might use to classify either one as being better than the other.
Hunter presented that, as a whole, people prefer the taste of coffee to tea. Additionally, coffee sales are much higher than those of tea, therefore making coffee much more beneficial to shop owners and beverage companies. His opposition argued that in foreign countries, slave labor is used in the production of coffee. This, in Hunter’s opinion, is what captured the judge’s attention and won his opponent the round.
Despite losing a tough round, Hunter is still hoping for a victory and competing with the team for the remainder of the school year.
“I don’t necessarily expect to do as well, but looking at who’s still around I should continue to break into the top rounds,” Hunter said.
Some students join the debate team solely because of the scholarship given to members at the end of each year or in order to avoid taking a speech communication class, but Hunter on the other hand, said he “just enjoys doing it.”
After four years of experience, Hunter owes much of his success to the team coach, Dr. Patrick Garner.
“He has a lot of refutable ideas,” Hunter said. “He can walk you through how to structure a case really well and tell you what is a good idea for a refutation.”
The debate team has two more tournaments for the fall semester.
