<p>With all the recent talk of sports, I thought it would be interesting to see how Princeton fairs in more academic competitions. In this case, it is Princeton's Debate Team. Commonly regarded as the best team in the nation, this is why:</p>
<p>Princeton has won more team and speaker awards than any other team in the nation. (Princeton has won Team of the Year in 2004, 2002, 2000 and 1998. Harvard won in 2005. Yale won in 2001 and 2003. Hopkins won in 1999. As for Speaker of the Year, Princeton won in 2002, 2000, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1992 with Brown, MIT, Yale, NYU and Columbia picking up one victory a piece in the years Princeton did not win). </p>
<p>In 2004, Princeton qualified more people for Nationals than any other school. (Harvard took this crown in 2005) </p>
<p>In 2004, Princeton was in the top 10 at every tournament they were in. (I don't have the data for 2005).</p>
<p>Princeton has done better at the Oxford tournament than any other American team. </p>
<p>Princeton's debate tournament is attended by more international colleges than any other American debate tournament.</p>
<p>in addition, no one actually knows which is the correct pronunciation of the former: clee-o or clie-o. as for remembering which is which, i just visualize them from the front and think "whig and clio [right]." that's just me.</p>
<p>On my tour, the tour guide pronounced the organization Whig-Cliosophic Society with a long "i," so I've always pronounced it that way. Guess she could've been wrong, though. I didn't understand half of what else she was saying...oh well.</p>
<p>How common is it for someone to be on the Debate (or Mock Trial) Team with little to no experience, given that the organization has such a strong reputation?</p>
<p>It's very common; I had no debate experience coming into the year, and, thanks to the Debate Panel's great novice education program & liberal "splits" policy (which guarantees novices that they'll be able to debate with an upperclassman -- sometimes a Speaker of the Year contender at least once a year), I finished as the #11 Novice of the Year. I also made Varsity out-rounds at several tournaments late in the year with another novice partner who did very well, and won the Yale Tournament's novice division with another freshman who had debate experience.</p>
<p>Please IM me @ TunanFish of anyone has any questions -- I had a great time in Debate, and I'm the Tour Director for the Panel this coming year. Our site is below:</p>
<p>Well, it's an activity where how well you'll do, and how much you'll enjoy it, probably directly relates to how often you go. There's no strict requirement saying you have to go to X # of tournaments to be on the team -- we don't operate like that -- but, of course, you'll get to know everyone better and feel more a part of the team the more you go. If you have any interest, come to our open houses at the beginning of the year, and think about coming to a tournament or two -- the first tournaments of the year are at Haverford and Swarthmore, which are close, so it's not a huge commitment.</p>
<p>Being more involved has benefits beyond getting elected to positions within the Panel, and so on: we nominate team members to attend both Oxford's tournament and the World Debate Championships, which change location every year. I'll be spending this New Year's in Dublin, thanks to Debate!</p>
<p>It should be noted, of course, that Princeton was the only team to go undefeated during in-rounds at the Nationals tournament. Both times the top Princeton team faced the Harvard pair that won nationals (at Hopkins finals and Cornell out-rounds), Princeton won . . .</p>