Oakton Debate Makes 'Sweet 16' At National Championship in Debate

The Oakton Community College Debate Team participated last week in the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) National Championships. This was Oakton Debate's first appearance at CEDA Nationals.

Teamed with a student from Macalester College, Oakton student Luis Toro advanced to stand among the top 16 debate teams in the country.

This performance at CEDA Nationals caps an incredible season for Oakton Debate, which included first place showing in the JV Division of the University of Kentucky, and a semifinal performance at Harvard (in Junior Varsity).

After these stellar performances in the JV Division, Coach Chris Langone encouraged Luis to "play up" and compete in the Open Division.

Debate coach, Professor Christopher Langone, said, "I am so proud of Luis' performance at CEDA Nationals, especially given he is a JV Debater, in his first year of competition at CEDA. Oakton Debate is on the forefront of elevating the competitive opportunities for debate at the community college level."

Prior to coming to Oakton, Langone was the assistant director of debate at Cornell University, and helped coach the team to its title of the number one debate team in the world in 2013.

"I have a big vision for Oakton Debate, which I believe will be a leader among community colleges in debate at the national level," said Langone.

Luis Toro commented that, "this year of debate has been a big game changer for me and has given me many opportunities I would never have been able to access without 'playing up' and doing all the work."

Oakton Debate meets on Mondays and Thursdays at Oakton Community College. Members of the community are welcome to get involved.

For information, contact Director of Debate, Chris Langone, at CLangone@oakton.edu or team captain, Luis Toro at ltoro38601@gmail.com