MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University’s debate team will participate in two friendly debates against the Irish Times National Debate Champions from Ireland this week, continuing a decade’s long relationship.

An on-campus debate will be held at the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 20, in Room 106 with the debate topic “This House Believes NATO is Obsolete.”

MTSU students participating in the debate include Nick Massey, an interactive media major from Murfreesboro; Sage Robinson, a psychology major from Murfreesboro; and Gus Sanders, a political science major from Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.

“I am so proud of the growth we have seen in each of these students, and they have become such strong leaders.  I am just so proud of what this team will become in the future,” said Communication Studies master instructor Natonya Blackmun Listach, assistant coach for the debate team working alongside head coach Patrick Richey, director of forensics and debate.

The Irish Times National Debate Champions team typically visits five to seven universities around the United States during their visit, with MTSU being the first stop.

“They could choose to go to any other school in the nation first, but they choose us first, so that is a huge honor,” Richey told MTSU Board of Trustees members earlier this week during a presentation at the trustees quarterly meeting about the team’s success.  “With our students, there is no pressure to win; they naturally win and naturally do well.”

Students participating on the Irish team include Liam Boyce, who is studying law with politics at the University of Galway; Adrianne Ward, who is also studying law with politics at the University College of Dublin; and Rob Fitzpatrick, who is working on his postgraduate in English literature at the University College of Dublin.

“I’m extremely excited to go on this tour, and really thankful to everyone who makes this once-in-a-lifetime trip happen,” said Fitzpatrick.

MTSU students participating in Wednesday’s off-campus debate hosted in Brentwood, Tennessee, by the League of Women Voters of Williamson County include John Aduroja, a mechatronics engineering major from Nigeria; Liam Boardwine, a chemistry major from Smyrna; and Sophia Gomez-Delgado, a criminal justice major from Nashville.

The topic was “This House Advocates for Mandatory Voting for All Eligible Voters.” The debate was held at the John P. Holt Library.

MTSU’s Honors College building is located at 1737 Blue Raider Drive. For off-campus visitors attending the March 20 debate, a campus parking map can be found on MTSU’s website https://parking.mtsu.edu/.

All majors are welcome to join Blue Raider Debate. To learn more about the team, visit https://debate.mtsu.edu/.

—   DeAnn Hays (deann.hays@mtsu.edu)