University of Virginia Library

Debaters Win Tournament

The Virginia Debaters recently won the
16th annual Dixie Classic Debate
Tournament, sponsored by Wake Forest
University. The team of fourth-yearman
Greg Bittner and third-yearman Tom
Thrash had a score of 8-0 in preliminary
round competition.

The pair defeated teams from the
University of Scranton, Wayne State
University, Lenoir-Rhyne College,
Western Illinois University, the University
of Maryland, the University of Richmond,
Dartmouth College, and the College of
William and Mary.

Mr. Bittner and Mr. Thrash then
entered elimination round competition as
the top-seeded team in the tournament.
They defeated the University of Scranton
in the octofinal round, Emory University
in the quarter-finals, and the University
of North Carolina in the semi-final round,
all on 3-0 decisions.

In the final round the University's
team met the debaters from George
Washington University and defeated them
3-2.

In addition, Mr. Bittner was named
second speaker in the tournament.

This win qualifies Mr. Thrash and Mr.
Bittner for the Tournament of
Champions, to be held at Illinois State
University in early April. Bids to this
tournament are given to those teams
reaching the semi-finals at twenty
selected tournaments throughout the
country.