By Daneyra Ramirez
El Cajon, Calif. – The Grossmont Colleges Speech and Debate team is preparing for the next showcase and wants you to join.
When most people think about competition Speech and Debate, “people oftentimes just think it’s debate and it’s not,” Professor Tuscany shared “there’s more to it than just that.” There are many other events during a competition. There are impromptu speeches, poetry, persuasive speaking and many other types of public speaking.
The Grossmont team will have another showcase to display the teams’ skills at the end of May, and anyone can go. If anyone is interested in seeing what it is like before then, their Tuesday meetings are open to students stopping by.
This spring semester has started off strong for the current Speech and Debate team, as Grossmont hosted the most recent Groundhog Day Tournament, taking home 18 awards including a first-place community college award, “before school even started,” Tuscany said. The competition consisted of mostly 4-year universities alongside some community colleges from all over the country. The tournament was previously held at San Diego State University for over 40 years.
The Grossmont Speech and Debate team is currently preparing for a trip to Incheon, South Korea to compete in an international and national event. Four of our fellow Griffins have been selected to compete at the tournament this March. The Phi Rho Pi tournament in April will also have Grossmont Students competing in Norfolk, Virginia.
If you want to join the class, head to self-service, add Speech and Debate Competition or look for Comm-283 through 241. Anyone can join the class and take the course up to four semesters. The team meets Tuesdays from 5:30 p.m. until about 7:30 p.m. in building 24 room 269. There are no prerequisites and no experience needed to join, “so don’t hold back,” Tuscany said.
