Spelman College Speech and Debate team won the 2025 Historically Black Colleges and Universities National Speech and Debate Championship competition hosted at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The Spelman team secured an impressive 12 awards across several categories.
The tournament, held during the week of February 27 - March 2, 2025, featured the International Public Debate Association (IPDA) debate style, the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) debate style, and ten of the American Forensics Association Individual events. Among the accolades, Spelman students won victories in the most prestigious and competitive categories: team debate, slam poetry, and extemporaneous speaking. The team of 12 competitors focused on advice from their coaches and strong foundational values.
“Our volunteer coaches, Robert Brown of Morehouse C’96, and Teri Thompson, C’87, always tell us that “competing is winning,’” said Laila R. Johnson, C’2027. “As our team is one that always centers on Black womanhood and Black scholarship, it was our goal to ensure that we did not equate our worth to trophies but rather took this opportunity to authentically share our art. In debate specifically, we always say do not sacrifice your values for the sake of “winning an argument.”
Johnson and Jocelyn Baker, C’2027, claimed the title of HBCU National Team Debate Champions, while Winter Jones, C’2025, won the National Slam Poetry Champion. Ryley Anthony, C'2027, earned the title of HBCU National Extemporaneous Speaking. The team’s success continued with placing third in the overall Debate Sweepstakes, and they earned multiple semifinalist finishes.
“The team’s goal going into the tournament was to stay true to and showcase our art and talent above all else,” said Bryanna Hightower, C’2028. Hightower, a first-year competitor, won fourth place in slam poetry.
The tournament represented an opportunity for HBCU students to compete against their peers and build skills to help them for a lifetime. The skills learned in speech and debate are valuable tools for students in the classroom and beyond the walls of their alma mater. According to a release, the National HBCU Speech and Debate Association seeks to promote forensics education in all HBCUs.
Spelman's Speech and Debate team stood out amongst other schools. Howard University came in second and third place for team debate. Virginia State University placed second in slam poetry, followed by Howard University in third. Tennessee State University achieved second and third place for extemporaneous.
The team has had its share of ups and downs on its journey to success. "As a student-led team, navigating the administrative logistics of planning for a national tournament while also competing and managing full-time coursework is and was a challenge," said Baker. "All of our travel funding comes from grassroots fundraising, and as a smaller RSO (recognized student organization), securing institutional support can be difficult. This competition was especially pivotal because, for the first time, we were able to take more than four competitors to an out-of-state tournament."
The team also worked hard preparing mentally and emotionally at other tournaments, throughout the year.
“We prepared through practice, showcases, and competitions. As we entered Spelman College Speech and Debate’s centennial year, we honored our legacy through research and art, exploring the Spelman and AUC archives that revealed team alumni like Alice Walker, Marian Wright Edelman, and Ruby Doris Smith Robinson,” said Johnson. “Throughout the season, we competed in various tournaments, both virtual and in-person. Highlights include advocating for Black women experiencing homelessness at the Morehouse College social justice debates and winning first place at Vanderbilt University’s Global Free Speech Dialogues Competition.”
Spelman College Speech and Debate team is celebrating 100 years. Founded as the Wheatley Fauset Literacy Society in October 1924, the Speech and Debate team is the second student organization founded on Spelman's campus. The team's alumnae have included novelist Alice Walker, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman, C'1960, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee executive director Ruby Doris Smith Robinson. Since its founding, the team has been committed to uplifting Black women's literature and activism. The team was resurged in 2017 by a few Spelmanites who wanted to bring Speech and Debate back to Spelman and has grown from three members to 30 this year. This past semester, the team uplifted its legacy with the showcase, "Sankofa."
In the early 1900s, the first HBCU debate was hosted in Sisters Chapel with Morehouse versus Talladega College.
The Spelman College Speech and Debate team individual awards are as follows:
Full 2024 - 2025 Speech and Debate Team Roster
*Winter Jones, C’2025 – Mathematics