John R. Park Debate Society Represents the U at the 2026 Western States Communication Association Conference & Tournament
The John R. Park Debate Society traveled to San Diego, CA for the Western States Communication Association Forensics Tournament on February 27 - 28. The tournament, which is part of the Western States Communication Association Conference, allowed students to engage in both a forensics swing tournament and conference presentations. Between the two speech tournaments and the debate tournament, the team had 11 final round appearances.
Sophomore Jeremy Parrish, and junior Maria Manousakis, were also admitted into the conference to present their original research for the Undergraduate Student Research Conference on Friday, February 27th.
Maria presented on her work titled, "Loyalty or Leave: Resistance, Identity, and the Rhetoric of Belonging in StreetEasy's 'Former New Yorker' Campaign".
Jeremy was the recipient of the Top Student Paper Award for his work titled "Synthetic Voices and Echoes of Violence: The Shotline Campaign in Contemporary Gun Control Advocacy".
Undergraduates Myra Hicks, Maria Manousakis, and Juan Boscan also presented at the conference for the forensics spotlight panel on March 1st. The showcase features various speakers and events in order to demonstrate the complexity and variety of work done and performed by undergraduates. The representatives from the JRP showcased Communication Analysis, Persuasive, and Impromptu speaking for conference attendees.
The team will begin its series of national championship tournaments to close out its season on April 1st, traveling to Binghamton, New York, for the CEDA National Tournament. The team will finish their season in late April at the National Forensics Association Championship Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.
COMPLETE RESULTS
Overall Awards
Top Student Paper - Jeremy Parrish
Individual Event Awards Part One
1st place - Communication Analysis - Samantha Watrin
2nd place - Impromptu Speaking - Samantha Watrin
3rd place - After Dinner Speaking - Aubrie Powers
3rd place - Extemporaneous Speaking - Samantha Watrin
3rd place - Informative Speaking - Aidan Brewer
4th place - Extemporaneous Speaking - Aubrie Powers
4th place - Programmed Oral Interpretation - Clara Tyler
5th place - Extemporaneous Speaking - Myra Hicks
6th place - Persuasive Speaking - Maria Manousakis
Debate Rankings
Semifinalist - NFA LD - Andrew Funai
Semifinalists - NPDA - Myra Hicks & Maria Manousakis
Debate Speaker Awards
1st place - NFA LD - Liam Kingery
4th place - NPDA - Samantha Watrin
Individual Event Awards Part Two
4th place - After Dinner Speaking - Clara Tyler
5th place - Informative Speaking - Benji Verbeck-O'Brien
