The Debate Team at Tech has found new success in the past few years, reaching highs in both club membership and tournament placement. Despite their growth, their purpose at Tech remains the same: to encourage the exploration of facts and ideas through critical thinking and public speaking skills in a social environment.
The Technique spoke to Debate Team President Nano Suresettakul, third-year IE, and Vice President and Co-debate Captain Emma Poma, second-year PHYS, about the team’s recent growth. Although chartered in 2000, the team was inconsistently active until 2021, when former Debate Team President Andrew Dowdy, CS ‘24, helped revive the club as a Departmental Registered Student Organization sponsored by the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
“After [Dowdy] left the club, membership declined a little bit. We were down to probably four members. After that, I took over because I [didn’t] think this was enough for the debate team, and I set us up with an exec board, and now we’re around 15 to 20 members strong,” Suresettakul said.
The club has represented Tech in a variety of debate formats from local to national levels since expanding into a much larger member base.
“We debate a variety of formats [where] we represent Georgia Tech in national, regional competitions, from anything like the Regents Cup, which is local to the University System of Georgia, to things like the ACC, our sports network, and we represent Georgia Tech at that level as well, competing against other schools like Duke,” Suresettakul said. At last year’s ACC Debate, the team placed 5th out of 15 other teams.
The team competes in three main formats: Policy, British Parliamentary and IPDA/NPDA, which all have a very different set of preparation and criteria, requiring members to be fluent in various skill sets.
Policy involves heavy preparation by researching the topic, coming up with different arguments and ensuring strong evidence from articles and studies. On the other end is the British Parliamentary style, where the debate topic is presented to members just 15 minutes before the start of the competition, requiring quick thinking and smooth teamwork. IPDA/NPDA is a balance between the other two styles, where members practice by honing their research skills and responsive thinking.
Recently, two policy debaters from the Debate Team at Tech — Prakhar Gupta, first-year BA, and Sushanth Chunduri, first-year BA — placed in the quarterfinals at Wake Forest’s Franklin R. Shirley Classic tournament. This marked the first time Tech was represented in the prestigious NDT/CEDA circuit that comprises the two top debating competitions nationally.
“[They had] some previous experience in high school, and really wanted to continue doing it in college … and we just got a new faculty advisor who helped us as well. So we helped them for that tournament, sent them and they did really well, as I mentioned before, so we’re really proud of them and how they stepped up and showed off Georgia Tech debate in a good way,” Poma said.
However, not every member comes into the team with such extensive experience. In fact, Poma and Suresettakul emphasize that the club is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about debate, improving public speaking or even just socializing.
“We welcome all kinds of students of all types of experience. We have two tracks for our students. One track is a novice track, where you’re learning different motions, how to write arguments and how to flow as well. And then our more serious track, our varsity track, you’re actually going into deep argumentation theory and practicing from that as well. So we welcome all types,” Suresettakul said.
“We’ve been able to send some new debaters … in August of 2023 and they were able to attend the tournament in March of 2024, and they did pretty well. So we really want everybody, whether they are experienced or not, to just help them practice in a supportive environment,” Poma said.
The Debate Team’s recent growth also comes from their partnership with Ivan Allen College, which provides them with an additional budget for tournaments as well as a designated faculty advisor. The team’s advisor Melissa Ianetta, Class of 1958 Professor in Communication and Executive Director of Writing and Communication, has provided her expertise from her background in writing to the club.
There are still some challenges the team faces, especially in attracting students as a humanities-centered club on a STEM-centered campus.
“Sometimes it’s hard to recruit people because they’re just so STEM-focused. But debate can help really improve your STEM education and help you become a better thinker. That’s why I really like it; it helps with communication and public speaking, which you need for any type of job,” Poma said.
If you are interested in joining or learning more about the Debate Team at Tech, connect with them on their website, Instagram @debateteamgt, or Discord.
“Just know everyone is welcome to join. We have a really supportive community, and it’s a good way to improve your social skills and wind down by thinking,” Suresettakul said.