Nikki Schuldt ‘22 is the president of the Smith Debate Society, which she called the “most active student organization on campus.” A member since her first year, Schuldt’s love of debate radiated from her as she talked in the basement of the Campus Center. She said she realized she was so excited to do this interview because no one ever wants to talk about the Debate Society with her, when there’s so much to talk about. “I would love it if somebody bragged about us,” she said.
So, what’s there to brag about? Schuldt said, “We’ve had more competitive success right now than we’ve probably had in ten years. The online format is really working for us.” The Debate Society has taken this tumultuous year as an opportunity for growth, for commitment to their craft and for a chance to become closer as a group.
Schuldt, along with her team, competes as a member of the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) against several other Northeastern colleges almost every weekend of the school year. This year has functioned differently due to changes voted on by APDA (which Smith’s team gets one vote in). The official season has been cancelled in favor of a series of individual tournaments hosted by various colleges online, and annual national awards such as “speaker of the year” and “college of the year” have been discontinued temporarily. Debaters and teams can still win at individual tournaments, and Smith’s team has been winning. Schuldt said they’ve had more “tournament breaks” (referring to debaters moving on to octofinals, semifinals, etc within a tournament) and speaker awards than ever before. If “college of the year” existed, Schuldt is certain that Smith would be in the running based on the points they have accumulated thus far.
Part of this success, Schuldt speculated, is due to the community that debate provides during this year of isolation. She said there’s a “need for community and connection, feeling like they are part of something, even if they’ve never been to the Smith campus.” This refers to the record number of novice debaters that the team has recruited and retained this year. Schuldt is especially grateful for their participation since their experience with debate — completely online — is vastly different from how she got her start. She said their connection is based on “the Zoom group chat, or the Discord channel where we all hop on the audio after rounds and talk, or Facetiming their [debate] partners.”
Joining debate is a rigorous and time-intensive process, but it’s these elements that create their tight-knit community. Twice weekly meetings, social events on the weekends, working with a debate partner in preparation for tournaments, let alone the tournaments themselves — all these interactions are conducive to an active and thriving student organization.
Schuldt retired from debating this year to commit all her attention to serving as the president. “I did that intentionally,” she said. Without the additional stress of debating, she’s had time to work on strengthening the group further so it will persist after she steps down. Additionally, without other responsibilities that have become irrelevant in online debate — like reserving rooms in the College Center to practice, or organizing transportation to tournaments — Schuldt has found time to pursue other projects. She instituted a Vice President for Equity position, who now functions as a check on the President of the Society and is in charge of fielding confidential equity complaints and making their group a safe and inclusive space.
In terms of next steps, Schuldt and the new VP of Equity are continuing to finalize new equity-based legislation to integrate into the debate society’s charter. They’ve also been invited to debate and be interviewed on the new social media platform “Clubhouse,” and of course, plan to keep debating for the rest of the semester. Schuldt lamented that Smith doesn’t acknowledge their accomplishments more, especially their persistence over this past year. While they receive substantial financial support from the Office of Student Engagement (OSE) to cover tournament costs, Schuldt said, “I wish there was more institutional support. They’ve never given us the attention we deserve.”
(Pictured: Smith Debate Society)
