Brownson Speech and Debate Continues Strong Spring Season

The Brownson Speech and Debate Team continues to represent Seton Hall with pride. In back-to-back swing tournament weekends in February, the team earned 84 individual awards, including 26 first-place individual finishes and three first-place team sweepstakes awards.

On Saturday, February 1, and Sunday, February 2, the team traveled to Ithaca, New York, to compete at Cornell University’s Big Tournament of Love and the Southern Northern Association Forensics Union No. 4 Series.

At the Big Tournament of Love, freshman Anne Guanga shined by winning communication analysis and informative speaking. Another freshman, Mary Brynn Christenson, championed dramatic interpretation, and Jaxon Carey, also a freshman, won impromptu speaking. Junior captain Catherine Jones championed extemporaneous speaking, and junior Amos Willey won the top individual speaker award. The team earned first place in the team sweepstakes.

The team doubled down Sunday, taking home the first-place sweepstakes at the Southern Northern Association Forensics Union No. 4 Series. Jones and Willey took first in dramatic duo, and Jones also won impromptu speaking. Christenson earned two first-place titles in program interpretation and prose, with Guanga and Willey tying for overall top speakers.

The following weekend, Saturday, February 8, and Sunday, February 9, the team traveled to Fairfax, Virginia, to compete with 14 schools, including the University of Florida, Cornell and Illinois State, at the Virginia is for Lovers Swing Speech Tournament. All team members returned to campus with awards, including six first-place titles for Jones, who took home the individual sweepstakes at both tournaments.

The combined effort amounted to approximately 3,600 minutes of individual speeches delivered by 10 students across the four events.

Strong performances continued at the 2025 Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament, held Thursday, March 13, to Sunday, March 16, at Ohio University.

The team took home fifth place in the team speech events, fourth in overall combined debate and speech in the moderate entry category, third in reader’s theater and 10th in the limited debate category.

Jones was crowned national champion in informative speaking, second in persuasive speaking, sixth in dramatic interpretation and third overall.

Guanga earned third place in interviewing, sixth place in informative speaking and quarterfinaled in communication analysis and persuasive speaking. Fellow freshman Christenson took fourth in poetry and quarterfinaled in program oral interp. Willey advanced to the quarterfinals in extemporaneous and impromptu speaking and poetry, while junior Emily Vaca quarterfinaled in prose.

“Putting the awards aside, these students are honing their critical thinking, exercising their memory, exploring their creativity and developing their argumentation and advocacy skills,” said team director and assistant professor of communication Catherine Zizik, M.F.A.

Zizik credited head coach Brian Sumereau, class of 2021; assistant coach Abigail Thow, class of 2019; and Jessica Rauchberg, assistant professor of communication technologies, College of Human Development, Culture and Media, whose “talent and dedication to mold and refine student talent remains the hallmark of our program.”

The team looks to continue its strong season at its next national experience, the American Forensics Association Tournament, at UNC Charlotte in early April.

The Brownson Speech and Debate Team has been known for its rhetorical excellence for more than 75 years. The team travels across the United States to compete in various speaking events, supporting Seton Hall University's mission to foster students' academic and ethical development and prepare them to become leaders in their professional and community lives.

Are you interested in becoming a team member? The team is open to all full-time undergraduate students, and most members receive a partial scholarship for active membership. If you would like to set up an audition, contact Catherine Zizik.

Categories: Education