The WKU Forensics team won their sixth consecutive year at the Gorlok Gala competition from January 27-29 at Webster University in St. Louis, allowing them to move forward to national competitions. 

“Forensics is another way of describing collegiate speech and debate,” Ganer Newman, the director of forensics, said. “Our students participate in a number of speech events, so that’s the speech side of things, and then they also do debate […] Forensics is just a language that we use to describe what we’re doing here, which is the search for the truth.”

Newman stated the word “forensics” is often attributed to crime scene investigators and states they are similar in their pursuit of the truth, albeit, with the team working to research, understand and come to terms with “truths about the human condition.” 

The team has traveled to multiple regional and national competitions, with the competitions taking place during August through the end of April, and throughout their season. One such regional competition included the Gorlok Gala at Webster. The national competitions run from March to April. 

“To me, I think it’s a huge testament to the support we get from the institution, from people in the community, the support we get from our alumni, all of those things coalesce into something that is consistently the best of the best,” Newman said. “It’s been an incredible thing to be a part of, for sure, but I love […] what this activity does in terms of transforming the lives of students.”

Newman said the team allows for students to share insights about their experiences and allows them to communicate the needs of different issues in their communities. 

The events themselves are segmented into preliminary rounds of speeches and debate cases to a judge and audience. Students who perform the best then advance to what are referred to as “out rounds,” and then onto a round of finals, then summing up the total of points. 

“[Looking back], every year, students face challenges, but it’s really interesting to think about that this year was in-person, the year before was a virtual competition,” Newman said. “In some ways, there are some universal challenges on what it takes to be one of the top debaters in the country. That requires students to plan ahead a lot for their academics, it requires them to sacrifice time on the weekends […] one thing that’s really interesting is what’s changed in the world, and therefore in the activity as well.” 

The forensics team put a lot of effort towards the Gorlok Gala, as it is the first major event of the second semester for them. However, due to the winter break and its relation to the proximity of the event, the turn-around proved to be difficult, Chad Meadows, director of debate said. 

“There’s a lot of really strong competitors from a lot of different programs across the country,” Meadows said. “[…] At the Gorlok, you really have to be flexible, and attempt to change your strategy depending on what your opponent has done over winter break.”

In the team, they share the philosophy that if one of them wins, they all win, and that it’s a very collective group effort. 

Following the Gorlok Gala, the forensics team will compete at the state tournament, then onto national tournaments including the Grand Prix in Dallas, Texas, the Pi Kappa Delta tournament in Pennsylvania and the National Forensics Association tournament in Illinois.  

“I am really proud of the students and the work they do,” Meadows said. “The students put in just an absolute ton of work and time to be successful in competitions […] They’re doing a lot to really represent WKU nationally.”

News Reporter Damon Stone can be reached at [email protected].