The Monmouth University Debate Hawks Competed in the National Prison Debate League against inmates from York Correctional in Connecticut. The Prison Debate League has a long history and first received national attention when former Civil Rights activist Malcolm X credited the League for his rehabilitation and for making him arguably the most gifted debater of his generation. Congratulations to Monmouth University debaters Aiden Fornicola, Sophie Schaub, Giana Mirto, Paige Campbell, Veronica Belloso, Audrey Copeland, Summer Billich, Kym Davis, Michael Judge, and Viktoria Stojceski for representing Monmouth in the NPDL.
Congratulations to the 12 Debate Hawks members who competed at the American Debate Association National Championship tournament hosted by Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia on March 6-7. Monmouth entered six teams of two debaters including: 1) Summer Billich and Sophie Schaub (co-captains); Aiden Fornicola (co-captain) and Giana Mirto; 3) Paige Campbell and Kym Davis; 4) Ilyana Balaj and Emma Levinson; 5) Megan McCann and Lola Salyamov; and 6) Luciana Molina and Gurvind Dehar.
The championship tournament included 230 debaters from about 25 universities from across the nation. The team of Aiden Fornicola (co-captain) and Giana Mirto went 3–3 at the tournament, which ties for the most Monmouth debate round wins at the American Debate Association national championship tournament. Monmouth teams competed against debaters from George Mason University, the University of Texas, Boston College, the University of Indiana, the University of Houston, the University of Kentucky and against debaters from a number of other universities. The 2025–26 American Debate Associate topic this year is: “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially strengthen collective bargaining rights for workers in the United States.” The Monmouth team ran an original team-researched case calling for the expansion of the National Labor Relations Act (1935) to include domestic workers.
A special thanks to debate alum Patrick Carbone who worked hard helping the team prepare for the tournament and by judging at the tournament. The team will next compete in the National Prison Debate League against inmates from York Correctional Facilities in Connecticut on April 8. Please reach out to Joe Patten if interested in learning more about the team. No experience is necessary. Debate teaches skills that last a lifetime and debate is a great way to make life-long friendships. Go Debate Hawks!
Monmouth University Debate Hawks co-captain Aiden Fornicola won a fifth place speaker award at the Northeast Regional Debate Championship hosted by the Suffolk Law School in Boston over the weekend of February 20–22. Monmouth had six teams (12 students) compete at the regional championship including: 1) Kym Davis and Aiden Fornicola; Summer Billich and Sophie Schaub (co-captains); Viktoria Stojceski and Michael Judge; Ilyana Balaj and Emma Levinson; Luciana Molina and Leslie Rosario; and Giana Mirta and Gurvind Dehar.
The debate tournament included debate teams from approximately 15 other colleges including Cornell University, West Point Military Academy, NYU, Boston College, Harvard, and several other universities from the Northeast region of the United States. The 2025–26 American Debate Associate topic this year is: “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially strengthen collective bargaining rights for workers in the United States.” The Monmouth team ran an original team-researched case calling for the expansion of the National Labor Relations Act (1935) to include domestic workers.
A special thanks to Debate Hawks alumni Mariami Ramirez, Mike Makfinsky, and Patrick Carbone, who worked hard helping the team prepare for the tournament and by judging at the tournament. The team will next compete at the American Debate Association National Championship in Atlanta Georgie (Emory University) on the weekend of March 6–8. Please reach out to Joe Patten if interested in learning more about the team. No experience is necessary. Debate teaches skills that last a lifetime and debate is a great way to make life-long friendships. Go Debate Hawks!
Congratulations to Monmouth’s Debate Hawks on winning six team and individual awards (including the top speaker award) at the Jersey Shore Invitational hosted on the University’s campus this weekend (November 21–23). Debate Hawks Co-Captain Aiden Fornicola received the top speaker award at the tournament, and three other Monmouth debaters won top 10 speaker awards, including Reagan Dunn (6th place), Ilyana Balaj (7th place), and Emma Levinson (8th place).
Monmouth also had two debate teams make it to the quarter-final playoff rounds on Sunday. The teams of Aiden Fornicola and Reagan Dunn received an award for making it to the quarter final round after posting a 4–2 record during the six preliminary debate rounds on Friday evening and Saturday. The first year team of Ilyana Balaj and Emma Levinson also received a team award for making it to the quarter-final playoff round, where both MU teams lost in close decisions to teams from the West Point Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy respectively.
Monmouth had seven debate teams of two (14 debaters) compete in the tournament. The seven debate teams included: 1) Sophie Schaub and Summer Billich (upper division); 2) Viktoria Stojceski and Michael Judge (upper division); 3) Paige Campbell and Kym Davis (3 wins); 4) Giana Mirto and Audrey Copeland (3 wins); Megan McCann and Lola Salyamov (3 wins); Ilyana Balaj and Emma Levinson (3 wins); and Aiden Fornicola and Reagan Dunn (4 wins).
The tournament was in-person and hosted on Monmouth’s campus. Most of the debates took place in Bey Hall and Poczycki Hall and included debate teams from 8 other universities including the West Point Military Academy, New York University, the U.S. Naval Academy, Boston College, the New School (NYC), Suffolk University (MA); Marian College (In), and Monmouth.
The 2025–26 American Debate Associate topic this year is: “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially strengthen collective bargaining rights for workers in the United States.” The Monmouth team ran an original team-researched case calling for the expansion of rights included in the National Labor Relations Act (1935) to current domestic workers and undocumented workers.
A special thanks to our teams captains Mariami Ramirez and Aiden Fornicola, who worked hard prepping for the tournament, and to Monmouth debate alumni Mike Makfinsky and Patrick Carbone for helping judge and coach at the tournament. Please reach out to Joe Patten at if interested in learning more about the team. No experience is necessary. Debate teaches skills that last a lifetime and debate is a great way to make life-long friendships. Go Debate Hawks!
The Monmouth University debate team received an award for making it to the quarter final playoff round at a policy debate tournament hosted by the University of Rochester this weekend (Nov 8–9). The Monmouth team of Aiden Fornicola and Ian McGough made it to the second playoff round on Sunday afternoon after compiling a winning record in the preliminary rounds on Saturday and Sunday morning. Monmouth had five debate teams of two (10 debaters) compete in the tournament and all teams won rounds at the tournament. The five debate teams included: 1) Aiden Fornicola and Ian McGough; 2) Sophie Schaub and Summer Billich; 3) Luciana Molina and Gurvind Dehar; 4) Emma Levinson and Julian Nicholas; and 5) Abigail Branstetter and Ilyana Balaj.
The tournament included debate teams from approximately 10 other colleges including Cornell University, New York University, the University of Rochester, SUNY-Binghamton, and the New School (NYC).
The 2025–26 American Debate Associate topic this year is: “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially strengthen collective bargaining rights for workers in the United States.” The Monmouth team ran an affirmative case seeking to eliminate the farm worker exemption from the National Labor Relations Act.
A special thanks to our team co-captains Mariami Ramirez and Aiden Fornicola who worked hard prepping for the tournament and to MU debate alum Mike Makfinsky and Patrick Carbone for helping judge and coach at the tournament. Please reach out to Joe Patten if interested in learning more about the team. No experience is necessary. Debate teaches skills that last a lifetime and debate is a great way to make life-long friendships.
