By Valeria Vazquez
Pia Maria Flores Palacios has a kind face, a gentle voice and is quick with a smile. The 2026 Student of Distinction Award recipient is polite and courteous. She serves on the ASO to make Southwestern College a better place for students and she aspires to be a psychologist so she can help people.
But don’t mess with her when she is debating. When she is competing she is like a demon from the ninth circle of Hell…or a humble, hungry community college in the southwestern corner of the United States.
“A lot of people (we debated) didn’t know where Southwestern College was,” she said. “Now they do.”
Flores Palacios led her team to national prominence, defeating experienced debaters at four-year universities – including Ivy Leaguers. She won Summa Cum Laude at the Cross Examination Debate National Tournament (CEDANT), outperforming university seniors in the fourth or fifth years of competition.
Flores Palacios is just starting out and getting better by the day.
“Google me, baby!” shouted her coach Ryan Wash, the fiery former national champion who has elevated Southwestern College from aspirational to ass kickers. “We ain’t here to play, we’re here to win!”
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T’aint braggin’ if ya cun do it and the brash Wash has done it all. In 2013 Wash and his university debate partner made history. They were the first team, the first black team and the first queer team ever to win both the Open Invitation National Tournament and the Qualified Only National Tournament.
“Precision, power and purpose,” said Wash. “We need to be precise when it comes to our wording and our arguments. We need to do so with power, that means with force, with intentionality. And we need to do so with purpose, remind ourselves why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
Wash is unafraid to toss a few “colorful metaphors” into his pre-tournament pep talks.
“We’re competing, man,” he said. “Why play if you’re not trying to win?”
Flores Palacios knows better than to argue with a person who won trophies for arguing.
“We prepare hard and we force others to play our game,” she said. “We are fully engaged. (Some debaters) forget to engage with arguments. They forget to read the room and be present. Get outside of the computer! Think for yourself! Think critically!”
Wash loves debate like a hungry grizzly loves salmon.
“Debating is a privilege and a duty to those who are unable to be here (to compete),” he said. “There’s a responsibility to debate. What comes out of your mouth is more than just words off your notes. It’s real life and a reality that people face in their day-to-day lives.”
Flores Palacios said she gets that. She also learned from Wash that champions do not train and prepare so they can win. They train and prepare so they can debate well. If you debate well, she said, then good things can happen.
“We feel a lot of purpose and meaning,” she said. “We’re not just coming here and saying whatever to win. We don’t pretend to be someone we’re not. We’re ourselves and we actually do something in the debate space.”
Debate is all about “embodying your (self),” said Flores Palacios’ debate partner Victoria Ayekof.
Though she has only debated for two years, Ayekof earned an All-American award at the CEDANT with Flores Palacios. Ayekof said she is inspired by music and self-empowerment. When the topic is Black struggle and Black pride, she references the song “This Black Girl” by Tank and the Banagas.
“When I first heard the song, I envisioned myself performing it in the same manner as Wash and talented Black women debaters,” she said.
Ayekof said Wash paved the way for her and the entire team. Flores Palacios agreed.
“Thank you, Ryan Wash!” said Flores Palacios. “He is the reason we have the success we have. We call him ‘Coach Mom.’ We have a community. We’re a small team, but it’s tight knit.”
And nearly impossible to beat.
