Western Washington University

03/13/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/13/2026 11:06

Honing their voice and purpose, Western Debate concludes regular season playing host to regional schools in Bellingham

Honing their voice and purpose, Western Debate concludes regular season playing host to regional schools in Bellingham

March 13, 2026

by Travis Cram

Director of Forensics, Western Debate Union

Members of Western Debate Union pose for a group photo after the Viking Classic.

The Western Debate Union, WWU's intercollegiate academic debate team, wrapped up its regular season of competition this past weekend in Bellingham. The program hosted its annual tournament, Viking Classic, welcoming schools from around the region for two days of debate.

The Vikings capitalized on home-field advantage, with five of their nine teams achieving winning records.

Western also extended its streak of reaching the final round at every event this season, with Evan Roesler and Arlo Urbigkit ultimately finishing third in the junior division. The duo also received top honors for their speaking prowess. The event's sanctioning body, Collegiate Argumentation Research and Debate (CARD), recognizes student performance in evidence and analysis, advocacy, and community building. Roesler earned second place in Advocacy, while the pair were the top two overall performers. They were joined by fellow teammate Gwendolynn Cheney in the community division, with the Vikings sweeping the category.

Evan Roesler and Ethan Martez joke in between debate rounds.

This season marks CARD's seventh year of programming. Western, as a founding program alongside a consortium of other schools throughout the region - such as the University of Oregon, Gonzaga University, and the University of Puget Sound - has been along for the ride since the beginning. The format embraces the power of debate to build the skills necessary for a rich and engaged civic life after graduation.

The sibling duo of Abbie and William Halpin do their best to keep a straight face. Hailing from Las Vegas, the Halpins credit Western's Debate program for helping them choose WWU.

Program Director Travis Cram highlighted this linkage, noting, "Nearly every student I meet on this campus is alarmed and angry in the face of our many political, technologic, economic, ecological, and social crises. I find many turn to debate because they seek the tools and skills they need to respond, including how to connect their advocacy for a better future across several audiences."

Coaching is serious business. Head coach Benjamin Hagwood helps debaters debrief between rounds.

The senior duo of Jonathan Crowley and Belen Rodriguez reflected on these dynamics as their regular season concluded.

"Even though our democracy appears to hang in the balance, CARD tournaments give me hope," Crowley observed. "Our competitions have been big, lively, fiercely competitive, friendly, and trust-inspiring. Every year, new programs join the CARD community, student-advocates find their voice and achieve their potential, and our vision of a just democracy seems more achievable."

Rodriguez underscored this impact through the format's featured topic of labor union policy, particularly as she readies herself to join the workforce, noting that "the debates I had were the most interesting discussions about labor and unions I've ever engaged in. This topic has changed the way I think about myself as a worker and has given me a deeper appreciation of unions."

The program next turns its sights towards its annual capstone event, the Tournament and Conference of Scholars, hosted this year in Ogden, Utah, April 11-12.

Laci Walter and Clover VanOrmer in their debut tournament of the year.

The event's defining feature, in addition to the final set of competitions to determine that year's champion, is its undergraduate research conference. Participating students have the opportunity to develop original research projects exploring underlying issues in their debates beyond the competition.

This year's conference theme asks: What is to be done in the face of growing economic inequality and the changing nature of work?

Conference Organizer Lauren Johnson (Weber State University, Utah) believes that this year is a unique opportunity to invite students to "examine the role of labor and unions in addressing these challenges and to consider how workers, institutions, and citizens can respond at local, national, and global levels."

Learn more about Western Debate Union here.

Western Washington University published this content on March 13, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 13, 2026 at 17:06 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]