The Simpson College Speech and Debate Team was awarded a national championship earlier this year, as they posted the top Debate Sweepstakes score at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament held earlier this month. Director of Speech and Debate Spencer Waugh tells KNIA News Simpson is known as one of the top programs in the entire country, and he believes that one of the ways the program succeeds is not in scores from competitions, but seeing success from the team in the future.

“The focus of our program is on the educational aspect. My hope is when the students look back on their four years of being on the team, they can truly say that their experiences are what helped them get their first job. That they can say wow, I was the most prepared in the interview room because of the opportunities that I had being on the speech and debate team. We really emphasize a student’s ability to communicate clearly and be at the top of their game in terms of critical thinking.”

Waugh is featured on today’s In Depth with Dr. Bob Leonard.