DANBURY, CONN. — The WestConn policy debate team may not yet be the best known or blessed with a long tradition, but it’s hard to argue with its success. 

The team, officially known as the Roger Sherman Debate Society, won both the junior varsity and novice national championships during the National Debate Tournament held in March at West Virginia University.

They were the first national titles for the team, which was founded just four years ago by a group of students and their professor, Dr. Christopher Kukk, an associate professor of political science and the team’s head coach and adviser.

The national titles came just one year after WestConn was named the Debate Team of the Year in the East and Kukk was named Coach of the Year in the East by the Cross Examination Debate Association, the national association for policy debate.

The team’s success and the talent that WestConn’s debaters have shown in upsetting powerhouse programs is a source of great pride and pleasure for Kukk and Wynn Wilcox, the team’s assistant coach and an assistant professor of history and non-Western cultures.

“Most of the debaters at Cornell, or Army or Binghamton or Vermont are students who don’t have to work every weekend and don’t often have a commitment to fund their own educations,” said Wilcox. “Our students make sacrifices to go to debate tournaments and to do research. They don’t have the time that other people do, and yet they still succeed. It’s a real tribute to them.”

Kukk added, “We’re one of the few universities that doesn’t have a full-time coach, a full-time staff and we don’t have scholarships yet.”

With the two national championships and many regional victories under its belt, the debate team is looking for continued success this year. The season has already started and the team will compete in seven debates before the final tournament is held in the spring.

The challenge for the team this year, as in past years, is that it is faced with another rebuilding season. Roughly 30 students are expected to join the team this year, and awaiting them are well-known and established debating teams from Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Boston College and the U.S. Military Academy.

“That’s what makes us different. We’re starting from scratch,” Kukk said. “It’s rare that our debaters have previous experience — they don’t even know what a debate round is or what it includes. Usually we get them, if we’re lucky, in their sophomore year, but a lot of times it’s in their junior year. They’re around for a year or two at most, then they leave. So we’re almost having to reinvent the wheel each year.”

Only two members of this year’s team are in their freshman year. And one of the freshmen was called on to fill in on an emergency basis last month when a team member got sick. In her first junior varsity debate, Priya Aswani scored a 29 – one point short of a perfect score.

“The best part is seeing WestConn students catch up so fast that they not only catch up to their colleagues and competitors at other schools, such as the Ivies, but a lot of times they surpass them without having all the knowledge of debate,” Wilcox said.

To attract new team members, Kukk relies upon members from past years to help recruit. He also makes announcements during freshman orientation. So unlike past years when the team was composed largely of political science majors recruited by Kukk, the team now also has students majoring in biology, criminal justice, history, social work and more. Kukk, not too surprisingly, also keeps an eye out for students who are standouts in his classes.

“In class, there are students for whom everything is clicking. They’re gifted in so many ways, in terms of not only intellect but oratory skills as well. They jump out. What’s interesting is that during office hours, some of those who are quiet during class can go off during office hours, and so I also Shanghai those.

“We’re growing so fast, and without Wynn I would be overwhelmed. There’s no way we should be growing this fast with our limited staff and resources,” said Kukk, who credits not only the team’s success but the support of the WestConn administration for the team’s growing popularity.

“The administration has been a huge, significant help,” Kukk said. “I can’t say enough good things about them. I don’t think every university can say that about their administrations.”

Aside from winning titles and firmly establishing WestConn’s intellectual credentials, the debate team is providing very tangible benefits for team members and the Greater Danbury community.

Debate team alumni, for instance, have established an outreach program with area high schools along with Wilcox. They are creating policy debate teams at local high schools, some of which may someday become feeder schools to WestConn. Debate team alumni also return to campus to help coach current team members.

“It’s a nice synergy that’s happening not only between current students and alumni, but between the university and the community, and it’s all happening through our students,” said Kukk. “That’s the one thing about WestConn students that I hope I never figure out: Why they’re so driven? I don’t know what it is. I don’t care what it is. I just love it.”

 

“It’s a real learning community,” Kukk added. “Not only do the faculty learn along with the students, but a lot of times we also learn from the students.”