Numerous awards and framed images adorn the blue walls of the MUSI 132 office.

Each photograph documents at least 30 years of history, capturing the legacy of the Forensics team’s successes in speech and debate tournaments throughout the years.

Applause and cheering flood the room as Torrance City Mayor Patrick Furey hands out a certificate and a gold coin to each member and coach to display their accomplishments.

The El Camino College Forensics team made yet another historic accomplishment on April 9 as the team won the Phi Rho Pi National Championship for the first time, accumulating the most points across all categories and divisions in the competitive speech and debate tournament held in St. Charles, Missouri.

The team also earned first place in the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence for both two and four-year institutions on March 27.

“You have really made us very proud as a city, as a community and as a region,” Furey said to the team members and coaches clad in blue team hoodies surrounding him.

As an alumnus of El Camino College himself, Furey said the efforts and diversity of the team as they reach prestigious competitions is one to be proud of.

“You’ve come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, different races, religions, absolutely everything,” Furey said. “But you come together as a team and that’s how you win things, that’s how you are the champions.”

Brittany Hubble, an adjunct communications professor at El Camino, is one of the coaches for the Forensics team who brought the team to success. Hubble was also part of the Forensics team as an El Camino student from 2013 to 2015.

“We were so excited when we figured out the numbers before the awards actually even happened,” Hubble said. “Not only is it special that we haven’t done it before, but it’s also been such a hard couple of years because of COVID and the lack of interaction.”

In preparation for the tournaments, the team would meet twice a week to practice and improve their arguments and delivery, bringing the team members closer in the process.

“They’re a very outgoing, extroverted group. I think why that’s so important in speech and debate is, the more they talk to each other and hang out, the more they learn and do things on their own,” Hubble said.

Uzair Pasta, a member of the team, said that the Phi Ro Pi tournament in Missouri being held in the month of Ramadan allowed his fellow Muslim members to share the experience of breaking their fast together. The rest of the team also met up on April 26 to experience Iftar in support of their teammates.

“It’s really great just to have supportive teammates, and supportive coaches and just great people in general around you,” Jana Abulaban, member of the Forensics team said.

Pasta also said that some of the members were even his rivals in high school, as he and Abulaban attended West High while other members were part of the South High Forensics team.

“It’s like being from competitors to teammates,” Pasta said with a laugh. “Even though sometimes they might get on my nerves, but I love all of them.”

Pasta said that the Forensics team is one of the main reasons he decided to go to El Camino after high school as his sister also used to be part of the team.

“I always heard stories about her flying out with the team and just having fun,” Uzair said. “So when I found out [El Camino] were still having their team … I immediately emailed Francesca, and how I wanted to increase my skills.”

Forensics Director Francesca Bishop has been a coach for El Camino’s Forensics team for over 20 years, gaining years of experience training students to improve their public speaking abilities, whether experienced debaters or complete beginners.

“Take our current member Cody [Hagemaier] for example, he came to us, he tried out, he never had any experience whatsoever, and yet he ended up taking a gold medal in nationals,” Bishop said.

In the end, the team garnered around 30 total individual awards in parliamentary, extemporaneous, impromptu and more categories, defeating powerhouse schools such as Rice University and the University of California Berkeley.

“There’s no better method of teaching people how to act as communicators than the method cultivated by the debate coaches we have in El Camino. Some of these coaches have like a God-given talent to teach,” Olivia Penland, another member of the Forensics team said.

Since the season is over, coach Hubble said the team is eager to reach the same heights once again and is encouraging more students to return and join the 2022-2023 team.

“Anybody who would like to try Forensics don’t need to have any experience, because as long as you’ve got some adaptability, we can train you in that, and it’s so rewarding,” Bishop said.

Editor’s Note: Story updated to replace “alumni” with “alumnus” on May 18, 10 p.m.