Ding! In late October, 32 debaters received a notification that they would be competing at the 45th annual Glenbrooks National Speech and Debate (GBX) Tournament in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago, from Nov. 23 to Nov. 25. As the team celebrated their selections, the next month would consist of hours of research, speech-writing, case strategy, and developing refutations on a multitude of topics ranging from ranked choice voting to recognizing Taiwanese Independence. Preparing both affirmative and negative arguments, debaters geared up for intense competition with over 500 competitors from all over the country across their divisions. 

With 20 students competing in the Congressional Debate event and 12 competing in the Public Forum event, the entire debate team spent the month meeting twice a week to help research and prepare these students for the competition. In Congressional Debate, students focus on simulating the U.S Congress by debating student-drafted faux bills and resolutions, intending to have balanced, nuanced discussions by refuting and building off other speakers within the round. For selected students like Aarnav Kethiri ’28, the additional opportunities and experiences allowed him to learn more about his event, especially things that weren’t common at his local tournaments. 

“When I heard I was selected, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m a freshman, and I’m going to a national debate competition!’ I was so happy,” Kethiri said. “Being on the GBX roster, one of only three freshmen there, and having the ability to go up against some really good people and prove myself was such a great opportunity to be a part of.”

Being selected for a national roster is a selective process, with coaches only allowed to bring 32 out of hundreds of talented, skilled debaters. While narrowing down the roster is hard for coach Kaitlyn Remain, she was also eager about the opportunities to gain experience the tournament allows students. 

“We were excited about GBX because of the number of students it allows us to take on the roster as opposed to some of the other national tournaments that we go to later in the season with much more selective rosters,” Remian said. “It was a really good experience to reward the students who’ve been excelling in both local tournaments and their research, as well as to give them a chance to learn something new from a national level of debate.” 

A prerequisite to being considered for these opportunities is writing arguments and researching their assigned topic, for which students find both affirmative and negative arguments to best prepare themselves and their teammates for debate. And while national opportunities like GBX bring on more arguments to prepare for, Kethiri finds excitement in researching and preparing for those topics. 

“The best part about GBX was that there was so much preparation for it, and there was so much to learn about,” Kethiri said. “Behind all my research doc[ument]s, evidence dumps, legal pads, and hours of preparation was what made me comfortable going into the setting of a national debate tournament with the best debaters in the nation and being able to compete with them as a freshman.” 

With 194 national competitors in the preliminary round of the Congressional Debate division, Kethiri said he’s able to learn more in these ultra-competitive environments because he’s pushing himself to be better. Stevenson’s debate team still had five students become semifinalists, ranking in the top 60 in the country, with one student even becoming a finalist and finishing 8th in the nation. One of the semifinalists, Andy He ’26, understands the importance these successes can have on the team as a whole and on younger team members. 

“One of my favorite parts of GBX, and any tournament, is having us be represented in high-level rounds because it sets the standard for future debaters to see that it’s possible,” He said. “When I saw one of our competitors in the final round, I thought in that the moment how this will help our younger debaters for the future, because they’ll know something like this is possible, and aim higher.” 

With the most competitors in the semifinal round out of any competing school, the experience of competing against the best in the nation, as He mentioned, allowed many to set new goals for their next tournaments. But outside of just the Congressional Debate event, the debate team had 12 other competitors compete in the Public Forum event at GBX with successes outside of placements. Team captain Alina Qian ’25 knows that the Public Forum program displayed massive strides this tournament. 

“I think that Illinois is typically considered a more traditional debate circuit in that we are more straightforward in debating our topic, while the national circuit is more technical where we can encounter more philosophical or moral debates,” Qian said. “Additionally, the national circuit is more dominated by top private schools, which usually have far better resources, making it an uphill battle to win rounds. So being able to hold our ground on a national level, dominated by schools [with lots of funding and many resources is something to be proud of, especially for a 4-year-old program like ours.”

For Qian and the Public Forum team, GBX was a learning experience that pointed out gaps in their argumentation. Differing from Congress, Public Forum debate involves pairs of students, in which debaters study a “case,” or a single assigned topic for one to two months at a time, developing prepared responses to arguments and adapting to their opponent’s arguments across the four-stages of debate to effectively win the debate. And while Illinois differs in style from the national scene, Qian points out the benefit of having students compete in this different manner. 

“I think that GBX is super indicative of one’s technical ability as a debater— it’s a different style of speech and pace altogether, which is good for coaches to make decisions about future leadership and a valuable experience for students who come back here,” Qian said. “PF has seen a ton of these new successes in the past couple of seasons, and the more we experience environments like GBX, the more successes we’ll continue to add.” 

As the captain of the Public Forum team, Qian said she mentors and aids the younger debaters on her team while looking at moments like GBX as a place for new leaders to rise up. And for debaters like Vivan Wali ’26, leadership is one of the lessons that he hopes to take away from GBX, using the experience as inspiration to be a role model on the team. 

“GBX taught me that debate is a lot more about teamwork and overcoming challenges together than anything else,” Wali said. “Because even if you personally don’t break into those semifinals or finals rounds, you have to support your teammates, and learn from the people who did to make yourself better, and show the younger people on the team how to positively deal with loss. And I think the more people help and support like this, the more cohesive our team will be, and the better we’ll get.”

Attributing much of his understanding of leadership from the mentors he had earlier in his debate career, Wali looks to transform into more of a leader on the team in the next few years. While GBX helped Wali and other students to focus more on their contributions to the debate community, it also showed the success in practices that coaches like Remian began building this season. 

“I think the coaches have been pretty consistent in terms of our messaging this year where we want students to get out there and take chances, on their delivery, on their speeches, and just doing the best they can, irrespective of the awards or trophies that might follow,” Remian said. “And I think this tournament rewarded students who had been following that advice but also gave students the opportunity to learn and observe from a round with the highest level of debate. And as a coach, it was exciting to see students come back and talk about how engaged with the entire round, what they learned, and what they wanted to try at our next tournament.”

With their sights set on upcoming local tournaments and national tournaments in January and February of next year, Remain hopes students will continue to stand for more speeches, make their voices heard, and continue to build their confidence as people and debaters. And echoing her sentiments, Kethiri, influenced by his experience at GBX, found a new value for debate. 

“For a lot of people, they think that debate is just arguing and talking over each other,” Kethiri said. “But it’s really the opposite. In every debate, we work together to help each other speak and argue better, and we use each other’s feedback to grow together. I know that everyone has something that I can learn from to get better, and that’s what I’ve come to value about this activity.”