Thirteen students from the El Camino College Speech and Debate Club and team participated in a national competition in Norfolk, Virginia, with many taking home top awards.

Phi Rho Pi, an association of two-year colleges for forensics — the art or study of argumentative discourse — hosted the five-day tournament from April 7-12, where the team competed against 51 other colleges and universities.

At the national tournament, nearly every team member medaled and three won gold.

Brittany Hubble, full-time communication studies professor and assistant director of forensics, said the team will sometimes have a lot of success because a few students will excel.

“The awards were really good; very impressive,” Hubble said. “It was really nice that this year almost every single student came home with at least one award.”

ECC ranks as the top community college debate school in the nation for the 2024-2025 year, according to sweepstakes results from the National Parliamentary Debate Association.

The college placed fifth in the nation overall behind only four-year universities.

Earlier at the California Community College Forensics Association State Championships, which took place from March 13-16 at Moorpark College, ECC competed against 19 other colleges and came in first place as a team overall.

“After the state championship, where we did exceedingly well, I was prepared for hopefully some success at nationals, but I wasn’t really sure what that would look like,” Hubble said. “We exceeded my expectations and I was very pleased.”

At nationals, Danielle Kabboul, vice president of the debate club, won gold in international public debate and Andres Osorio, co-president of the club, placed first in Lincoln-Douglas debate.

Kabboul, a 19-year-old business administration major, also serves as the Associated Students Organization president. She has been on the debate team for three years, and this was her third time going to nationals.

“I actually would not have been in ASO if I had not done debate … It was only when I joined speech and debate and met some of my very, very close friends now that were already involved in ASO,” Kabboul said.

International public debate involves limited preparation, where both debaters have about 30 minutes to select their topic and prepare for a 26-minute debate. The delivery is non-technical, without the use of debate jargon or pacing.

To win gold in international public debate, Kabboul completed seven rounds in total with each lasting about an hour.

“That’s personally my favorite type of debate … just because I think that it develops very real-world applicable skills in that you’re rewarded for being a good speaker and using good vocabulary and going at kind of a good pace,” she said.

Abigail Morey, who joined the team in fall 2024, earned gold for impromptu speaking, where participants deliver a speech based on a given quote. She competed nationally for the first time and her final speech was about legacies.

“This is my first time doing debate in college, and I feel so blessed that I was able to go to nationals. It felt like all the hard work I’ve done — it was all worth it,” Morey, a 20-year-old communications major, said.

To earn a spot in the state and national tournaments, Hubble said students should constantly be keeping up with news, current events and gathering specific pieces of information.

“Making your life about [debate], at least for that period of time is really what will help you land one of those spots,” Hubble, who was formerly on the team from 2013-2015, said.

Kabboul said that speech and debate encompasses a wide variety of events—some more theatrical, argumentative, impromptu, or researched and memorized—and that it offers something for everyone who gets involved.

“I never expected that I would be good at it, but the coaches are just incredible and the amount of personal development that you’re able to have through the program is just absolutely astonishing,” she said.

Phi Rho Pi individual results

Juliette Celis – Bronze in impromptu

Julissa Celis – Competed in parliamentary

Sophia Cruz – Silver in Lincoln-Douglas, bronze in parliamentary

Nia Gordon – Silver in international public debate, bronze in parliamentary and impromptu, seventh overall speaker in parliamentary

Danielle Kabboul – Gold in international public debate, silver in parliamentary, bronze in Lincoln-Douglas, sixth overall speaker in Lincoln-Douglas

Salma Kidwai – Bronze in impromptu

Alec Lyons – Competed in parliamentary and Lincoln-Douglas

Abigail Morey – Gold in impromptu, bronze in parliamentary

Andres Osorio – Gold in Lincoln-Douglas, silver in parliamentary, third overall speaker in Lincoln-Douglas

Zaynah Robb – Bronze in impromptu and persuasive platform

Ashley Singh – Silver in Lincoln-Douglas, bronze in parliamentary and extemporaneous, eighth overall speaker in Lincoln-Douglas and parliamentary

Abigail Succup – Silver in Lincoln-Douglas and parliamentary debate

Ethan Syring – Silver in parliamentary

California Community College Forensics Association State Championship individual results

Sophia Cruz – Bronze in international public debate

Nia Gordon – Bronze in international public debate, bronze in extemporaneous and silver in impromptu

Danielle Kabboul – Gold in Lincoln-Douglas, gold in international public debate, silver in parliamentary and silver in extemporaneous

Salma Kidwai – Bronze in parliamentary

Alec Lyons – Bronze in parliamentary

Abigail Morey – Gold in impromptu and bronze in extemporaneous

Andres Osorio – Gold in Lincoln-Douglas and bronze in parliamentary

Zaynah Robb – Gold in impromptu and bronze in extemporaneous

Ashley Singh – Gold in Lincoln-Douglas and bronze in international public debate

Abigail Sucup – Silver in Lincoln-Douglas and silver in parliamentary

Ethan Syring – Bronze in parliamentary and bronze in international public debate

Editor’s note:

• This article was updated Monday, May 5 at 3:13 p.m. to clarify tournament placement and competition information.