Kansas City natives push envelope with debate style

LaToya Williams-Green and Ryan Wash

In conversations, they finish each other’s sentences. They don’t cart volumes of research with them as they enter debate tournaments. And they use some unusual techniques to win recognition from judges at debate tournaments around the region.           

They are Emporia State WW, which in the debate tournament world means they are Emporia State University’s team of LaToya Williams-Green and Ryan Wash.

Spectators at last weekend’s tournament at Kansas City Kansas Community College got to see the team in action in one of six or seven such events Williams-Green and Wash hope to enter this year. Their style may be a little unusual for those accustomed to more conventional debating techniques.

“Toya and I fit into what people call the ‘performative’ style,” said Wash, referring to his debate partner by nickname. “Instead of just looking at the topic and finding out what we can say about it, we look to ourselves and ask what our personal experiences are and how they may affect how we think about the issue.”

They grew up in similar circumstances in Kansas City, Mo., competed as high school students on the same urban debate league in Kansas City, then reconnected last year at ESU. “Ryan and Toya have very unique backgrounds and stories to tell,” said Sam Maurer, ESU’s director of debate and head debate coach.

While some teams haul in monumental stacks of evidence in expandable files to a debate, Williams-Green and Wash rely on a pared-down supply of paper evidence. “My knowledge is here,” said Wash, pointing to his forehead. “It’s good to have evidentiary support of an argument that I formulate, but it’s just support. Not the argument itself.”

The technique seems to be working for them. “We walk in with a couple of backpacks, and the other teams are like, ‘Where’s your debate stuff?’ And then we win, and they don’t know what hit them,” said Williams-Green, the first African-American female on ESU’s debate squad.

“Ryan and Toya bring their own style to the table and use a lot of cultural studies, media studies, and history to form their very innovative arguments,” said Maurer. “Their debates usually involve many elements of spoken-word poetry, song, and other rhetorical media to lend persuasiveness to their arguments,” he explained.  

It’s a technique that requires hours of preparation, discussion and practicing. “Pursuing an innovative strategy like this takes some great speakers to pull it off.  Fortunately, Ryan and Toya are just that,” said Maurer, noting that the team has received speaker awards at each tournament they’ve attended.

At the KCKCC tournament, Ryan and Toya were ranked the second and third speakers overall in the varsity tournament. They took first place overall in the varsity tournament, defeating the University of Missouri Kansas City in finals.

In addition to debate, Williams-Green is president of Black Student Union, an ESU campus organization. She is a communications major with an emphasis on public relations. Wash is majoring in public relations with a minor in accounting.

Williams-Green is quick to credit Maurer and assistant debate coach James Taylor with creating a supportive atmosphere for ESU debaters. “We found a family with Emporia State and Emporia State debate, and that’s allowed us to go out and get involved with other things on this campus,” she said.

Last Updated October 15, 2009>