Students help bring back the BYU speech and debate team

BYU students brought back the speech and debate team following decades of absence. The team will officially be back this fall in the form of the new class "Debate and Argumentation."

The original debate team was "exceptionally" successful, according to professor and former member of the original debate team, Ron Wilkinson. He said despite the team's success, it lacked funding towards the end. The team finally was disbanded sometime around the late 1980s or early 1990s when the debate coach died of cancer and no replacement was found.

Decades later, students Jack Lindsey and Collin Powell revived the debate club.

"They started the club at BYU and the first semester they did that, 2025 winter semester, they had around five people attend each meeting," Luke Smith, club president, said.

Smith said membership grew significantly the next semester, with regular showings of more than 30 people. However, there was still something missing the opportunity to debate in tournaments.

"When our club president told us that we would not be able to compete unless BYU had an official class, creating that course became our immediate priority," Abigail Bailey, club officer, said.

"We started talking with professors that we knew had done speech and debate. We found Dr. Davis and Dr. Crosby and we talked to them about what would be needed to get a class," Smith said.

"The main motivation for starting this was to open up opportunities to compete and represent BYU around the academic sphere," Mason Anderson, fall semester club president, said.

The club members organized a petition that rapidly gained support. Smith recalled getting about 75 signatures. They turned in the petition to the Kennedy Center and were able to get the class approved.

Ben Crosby, professor of English and rhetoric, will teach the class.

"What students can expect is a very hands-on applied experience," Crosby said. "Within the first couple of weeks, we're going to start translating that theory into real debates in class."

Crosby said the course will give students the opportunity to become better at public speaking, travel to debate tournaments and build leadership skills.

"People are often afraid to lead because they're afraid to communicate," Crosby said. "Once you learn not only to stand up in front of a group of people and make an argument, but also to be rebutted to be confronted to be disagreed with in front of other people...that's one of the key skills of leadership."

Ryan Davis, professor of political philosophy and experienced debater, is another professor involved with the class.

"My own background in teaching debate is more assertive like, 'What are the judges going to do? How are you going to prep for the judges?'" Davis said.

He explained that he will focus on preparing students for tournaments with a focus on debate strategy and tactics.

Students can get involved by registering for IAS 397R Section 5 or joining the BYU speech and debate club.