The William Carey debate team of Omar Villarreal and Tanner McGee clinched a national championship title March 11 during the 2023 National Team IPDA Tournament hosted by the University of Central Arkansas. IPDA stands for International Public Debate Association.
In the championship round, Villarreal and McGee went head-to-head against Abilene Christian University’s top team on a very in-the-news topic: Whether Disney should fight against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The championship round took place late on a Saturday night before a crowd of coaches and competitors – with results announced a day later during an award ceremony.
“Not only did our team take first place nationally in team debate, William Carey also took first place in Team Sweepstakes, meaning we collectively had the most points/wins out of all those competing,” said the team’s head coach, Dr. Brandon Knight of the Department of Theatre & Communication.
“I am very proud of their accomplishment. The Team IPDA national championship was a special experience because we witnessed our veteran students, who stayed the course and honed their skills, flourish and prove themselves to be among the best in the country.”
Both newly crowned national champions are seniors at William Carey University. McGee is from Hattiesburg; Villarreal is from Pascagoula.
“During the competition, each team completed six preliminary rounds of debate for and against the topics that were selected – and you don’t get to choose which side you’ll be arguing. Then, we moved on the top 16 teams in the tournament and debated tournament-style until there were only two teams remaining for the final round,” McGee said.
Villarreal said his long partnership with McGee was a plus: “Tanner and I have been partners for four years. Being able to see success round-by-round was something that we were hoping to see at this tournament. We were nervous at first, but as we kept going, our confidence built and we won our first national title.”
After graduation, Villarreal plans to attend law school. McGee is interested in business and has helped manage several Robert St. John restaurant locations in Hattiesburg.
