The Loyola Marymount University Debate Team placed second at the recent Oxford Union Debate Society’s Intervarsity Competition, just three points behind first-place winners Middle Temple (law program at King’s College, London) and ahead of third-place finishers University College, Dublin.  LMU beat MIT and Yale University in the semifinal round, and eliminated Fordham University in the quarter finals. No other American team made the final round.

Kevin Kiley, a graduate student in the School of Education, and his partner, Michael Aguilera, a senior philosophy major, were among 129 two-member teams from more than a dozen countries that competed. LMU received another honor when Kiley placed sixth among 258 individual speakers. Kiley was the Top Speaker of 280 competitors in the 2007 competition.

“It is rare for an American team to be in the finals in this tournament, let alone place in the top 10,” says Jay Busse, director of debate and associate professor of communication studies in the College of Communication and Fine Arts. “This is the highest we’ve placed at this event. These students have learned to adapt to different audiences and have gained philosophical, economic and political insights that have enhanced their debating and public speaking skills.”

Aguilera, team captain and member since coming to LMU in 2004, says making the Grand Final was a dream come true and hearing his teammates cheer him on made it all the better. “My teammates have become part of what makes LMU feel like home,” he says. “Having worked, traveled, and competed together has put me in a place where I cannot think of my time at this university without them. We have our successes and setbacks as an entire team.”

Kiley, who had never taken part in British Parliamentary debate prior to coming to LMU in the fall of 2007, says he joined the team because it seemed like a great opportunity to stay intellectually active and to represent LMU in some capacity. “It’s a privilege to be part a first-rate debate program and to grow as a speaker under the guidance of Jay Busse  -- all while having the chance to travel and meet interesting people from around the world,” he says.
 
The tournament, held on the historic Oxford University campus, is among the largest and most prestigious competitions for college debaters. Although the team has competed in a variety of national debates, this competition focused more on impromptu communication skills. Once topics were announced, speakers from each team had only 15 minutes to prepare their arguments.
 
When they're not preparing for competition, both men coach high school speech and debate teams: Aguilera at Immaculate Heart High School; Kiley at Manual Arts High School.

"I've found that debate, which is really just the structured exchange of ideas, has this unique power to excite intellectual curiosity -- whether for Oxford graduate students or for sophomores at an underserved high school,” Kiley says.

The team’s next venture will be at the World Universities Debating Championships in Ireland, Dec. 26 – Jan. 4, where they will be among 308 teams representing more than 60 countries.