Resurgent Debate Team Excels
In a span of four years, Dr. Stephen Llano has taken the St.
John’s University Debate Society from non-existent to
award-winning.
The group is currently enjoying one of its strongest seasons,
taking first place at the Empire Debates tournament, winning the
Robert Huber Debates at the University of Vermont and reaching the
finals at the U.S. Open Tournament hosted by the Clarement Colleges
in California.
The University’s storied Debate Society dissolved in the early
2000s, but now – thanks to the efforts of Llano and the support of
current students – St. John’s is back and sits at second in the
Northeastern Rankings.
“Debate is the type of thing you can participate in and
it’ll help you no matter what you pursue,” said Llano, who came to
St. John’s in the Fall 2007 semester. “It’s a broad-based,
concentrated discipline. Students often join because they think
it’d be cool to rip someone to shreds in a debate, but they quickly
find out it’s about a lot more than that, like how to discipline
yourself and be persuasive.”
The Debate Society competes using a new style of debate called
“Worlds Debate.” Created in 2007, this style is modeled after the
British House of Commons, where two teams argue in favor of a
motion while two other teams debate against it.
“The advantage of this debate is that it’s global,” Llano
explained. “Anywhere you go in the world, you can find debate
tournaments in this format. We’ve been taking advantage of that and
traveling to a number of international tournaments, which is great
for the students, and it falls in line with the University’s
overall global mission.”
Under Llano’s watch, the team has attended workshops in Slovenia
and competed in tournaments in Ireland, Turkey, Botswana, England
and Canada, among other locations. St. John’s has even hosted
visiting international debate teams, including the national
champions from England and ones from Morocco.
These efforts have been further enhanced by the team’s new
“headquarters” – the Debate Studies Facility in St. John Hall
203.
“Our new space is terrific,” Llano said. “We’re still learning
how to make the best use of it, but we’ve had a number of public
debates with other clubs, like one with the Science Club about
colonizing Mars. So it’s a great place to practice and host cool
events.”
Any alumni interested in learning more about the St. John’s
Debate Society, or if you are a former member of the team and are
looking to reconnect, please contact Dr. Stephen Llano at (718)
990-5606 or e-mail him at llanos@stjohns.edu.