SWC debate team always right

Republican political skirmishes have demonstrated that debates can devolve into charade.

For SWC’s debate team though, debates are all business.

One of SWC’s most decorated programs, the debate team has won championships all over the West, often defeating behemoths like UCLA, Berkeley and UCSD.

This year is no different.

At the Robert Barbara Invitational hosted by CSU Northridge, SWC entered two teams on opposite sides of the tournament bracket. Both SWC teams rolled through the field to face off in the final round. They opted to forgo the championship and share the trophy. Francesca Baird, Daniel Smiley and Jorge del Castillo were all awarded individual speaker awards. Smiley received top speaker of the tournament.

SWC’s debate ascendance began when Professor of Communications Jordan Mills took over the program 15 years ago. Mills has been steeped in the culture of debate competition his whole life.

“When I was a kid, I used to go along with my dad to tournaments and I would watch the debates and speeches,” he said. “I just got used to the environment so I understood it, and I went on into high school already knowing it. I never looked back.”

Mills’ career in debate started during his childhood and continued to SDSU where he and his partner Lincoln Houde had a streak where they beat six national champions in a row.

Success has followed him to SWC.

“Almost every year we are in the top five of the community colleges in the whole country in policy debate,” he said.

Mills said the team’s unorthodox preparation has been the key to its success.

SWC debaters focus on broad systems that they argue with and against, like capitalism and socialism. This allows the debaters to make broad claims that competitors have a hard time responding to, said Mills.

“We just have a system,” he said, “We have arguments that we make over and over again, and we know how to systematically answer what our opponents say and we just try to be better prepared than they are.”

Throughout the years SWC has gained a reputation for being the “socialists” at debate tournaments, as teams that have encountered SWC have had difficult times coping with the arguments Mills’ teams have devised over the years.

Diego Salido, 19, said SWC debaters are the craziest students at tournaments.

“We pretty much just say nuclear war is going to happen, so you have to become an anarchist and continue out a revolution, otherwise we all are going to die,” he said.

Thanks to the powerful, well-prepared system and winning culture Mills has instilled in his teams, first-time debaters like Salido, an aeronautical engineering major, are able to achieve success early. Salido went undefeated and won the D1 Qualifier and Pacific Championship at USC last month.

Professor of Communications Eric Maag urged Salido to join the debate team. Mills is glad he did.

“Diego is technically a better debater than me, considering that has a higher winning percentage and has not lost a round,” Mills joked.

Salido gave credit to his veteran debate partner, Jorge del Castillo, 20, a political science major. It was Salido’s first tournament and del Castillo showed him what was necessary to win, he said. Del Castillo spent 30 hours before the competition researching evidence and sources for the tournament at USC, said Salido. Del Castillo used that time to create new arguments to gain an upper hand.

“It allowed me to win the tournament,” del Castillo said. “It was all about putting the time and effort into it, which was the hardest part.”

In college policy debate, the arguments students make must be backed up with evidence. Debaters must explain why their evidence is superior based on its logical merits. Each debater is given 15 minutes to make an argument, including a cross-examination where the teams can pose questions in between rounds. A judge makes his final decision at the end.

Francesca Baird, 19, a communications major who joined the team last year, said debate has given her greater social and political awareness.

“It definitely changed my perspective on things,” she said. “Growing up I had Republican parents. I didn’t really know what that meant until I came to terms with the arguments we make on the debate team.”

Mills said his current crop of debaters is among his best ever and he hopes debate leaves an impact on them beyond this year.

“The best thing about debate is that helps you find your voice and organize your ideas,” he said. “Debate can really change the world.”