Rice University Speech and Debate, the George R. Brown Forensic Society

Rice Speech and Debate Wraps Up the Season with a National Champion Speaker, Second in the Nation, 40 Awards, and an Eye to the Future

Rice Speech and Debate has concluded another season of competition, bringing home second in the nation in debate and a hard-won seventh-place finish in the nation in speech. The students and coaches of the team continue to represent Rice nationally with Responsibility, Integrity, Community, and Excellence, practicing strong and ethical advocacy, serving the speech and debate community, and demonstrating competitive success.

Rice has just concluded “Nationals Season” and the tournaments leading up to it. Results are reported below.

National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence, Mercer University, Macon, GA, March 6-8

Seniors Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer debated UC-Berkeley in the final round, marking Rice’s first return to the final round of the NPTE since 2019. Rice SS was the top seed going into Round 5, not losing a single ballot until Round 6. They then fought their way through the bracket to reach the final round. Though the decision did not go Rice’s way, this is an incredible accomplishment, and one befitting these two seniors who have worked so hard!

Speaker Awards:
Nikki Stancik: 1st Place National Champion Debate Speaker. This is the first time a Rice competitor has won top speaker at the NPTE!

Kyle Sanderfer: 3rd Overall Debate Speaker
Lawrence Jin: 11th Overall Debate Speaker
Travis Johnson: 16th Overall Debate Speaker

Final NPTE Rankings for the year (out of 189 ranked teams):

Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: 2nd
Rohan Gupta and Travis Johnson: 11th
Lawrence Jin and Karen Tang: 13th
Ridhi Dondeti and William Wang: 14th
Molly Wladis and Maddie Yuan: 25th

Qualification for the NPTE is based on a bid process that measures win record across the season.

National Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship, Mercer University, Macon, GA, February 28-March 3

Rice advanced all five of its teams to the elimination rounds at this year’s NPDA and had 7 of the top 20 speakers! Rice came very close to winning another consecutive sweepstakes national championship, falling short of the first-place mark by a few points.

Tournament Sweepstakes: 2nd

Varsity Season Sweepstakes: 2nd

Overall Season Sweepstakes: 3rd

This marks the team’s seventh straight year with a top-four national sweepstakes finish.

William Wang and Travis Johnson: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Rohan Gupta and Molly Wladis: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Ridhi Dondeti and Maddie Yuan: Doubles-Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Speaker Awards:

Kyle Sanderfer: 3rd Overall Debate Speaker
Nikki Stancik 7th Overall Debate Speaker
Karen Tang 8th Overall Debate Speaker
Lawrence Jin 12th Overall Debate Speaker
Rohan Gupta 15th Overall Debate Speaker
William Wang 17th Overall Debate Speaker
Travis Johnson 18th Overall Debate Speaker

Rice had seven of the top twenty speakers!

Rice had three NPDA All-American Team Selections. The All-American award recognizes students’ commitment to community service, academic excellence, and competitive success.

Rice All-Americans:

Kyle Sanderfer
Nikki Stancik
William Wang

With this NPDA, Ridhi Dondeti concluded her term as 2025-26 Student District Representative to the NPDA.

Shannon LaBove continued her service work as NPDA Treasurer.

National Forensic Association National Tournament, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN, April 16-20

Rice qualified 6 students with 14 events for NFA.

Sweepstakes: 7th President’s Division II.

Sophomore Vedant Khadiya advanced to the elimination rounds in two events and reached the quarterfinals in both. This outstanding showing demonstrates what we at Rice already know: Vedant is a rising star in the speech world and has great things in store for future seasons!

Vedant Khadiya:
Quarterfinalist, Extemporaneous Speaking
Quarterfinalist, Impromptu Speaking

Non-Advancing qualifiers:
Daijah Wilson: After Dinner Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation, Informative Speaking, Prose Interpretation
Reed Zimmerman: After Dinner Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation
Olaoluwapo Oladipo: Program Oral Interpretation
Osi Okafor: After Dinner Speaking
Maria Barajas: Extemporaneous Speaking

Shannon LaBove continued her service role as the Event Chair for Extemporaneous Speaking.

American Forensics Association National Speech Tournament, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, April 3-6

Rice qualified 3 students with 12 events for this prestigious event. Just qualifying for this event is difficult and shows the tremendous hard work and success of these students across multiple regular-season tournaments.

Events qualified:

Vedant Khadiya: Communication Analysis, Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Informative Speaking, Persuasive Speaking

Chloe Pesqueira: Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Persuasive Speaking

Daijah Wilson: After Dinner Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation, Informative Speaking, Prose Interpretation

David Worth continues to serve as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the NST, overseeing all financial matters, serving on the national committee, and assisting the tabulation staff.

Shannon LaBove continues to serve in her NST service roles as Chair of the Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Access, as a member of the Community Response Table, and as a member of the Extemporaneous Speaking Event Committee.

Northwestern U. Asynchronous Virtual Tournament, March 17-19
Maria Barajas:
1st Extemporaneous Speaking

AFA-NST District 3 Spring Qualifier Tournament, March 7, Tyler, TX
Daijah Wilson:
2nd Prose Interpretation
3rd Dramatic Interpretation

Chloe Pesqueira:
1st Impromptu Speaking
1st Persuasive Speaking

Last Chance at ISU, Virtual Asynchronous Hosted by Illinois State University, March 2-6
Daijah Wilson:
1st Informative Speaking

Ola Oladipo:
2nd Program Oral Interpretation

Osi Okafor:
3rd After Dinner Speaking

Maria Barajas:
5th Extemporaneous Speaking

Good Life Asynchronous Virtual Hosted by the University of Nebraska, Omaha and UNL, Lincoln, March 2-6
Daijah Wilson:
4th Informative Speaking

Lucky 7 Virtual Asynchronous Hosted by James Madison University, February 23-26
Daijah Wilson and Shay Olaifa:
4th Duo Interpretation

Please join us in congratulating these academic competitors! This concludes competition for the year. The team will next compete in the Fall 2026 semester.

Rice Speech and Debate is housed in the School of Humanities and is coached by David Worth and Shannon LaBove. For more information, please visit humanities.rice.edu/speech-and-debate.

Rice Speech and Debate Wins 39 Awards so far in Spring 2026!

Rice Speech and Debate continues to represent Rice with its usual excellence across the nation. This semester, the team has competed at multiple events, expressing student voices through rhetoric and performance. The team has qualified numerous students for nationals, and hopes to qualify several more before starting the national run. Recent awards are listed below:

Mound High Swing, January 8-11, Lebanon, IL
Part 1:
Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Rohan Gupta and Travis Johson: Double-octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin: Double-octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Part 2:
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Ridhi Dondeti and William Wang: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Rohan Gupta and Travis Johson: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Speaker Awards:
Kyle Sanderfer: 7th Overall Debate Speaker
Nikki Stancik: 6th Overall Debate Speaker

National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence first round bids announced:
At the awards for this tournament, the NPTE Board announced the first round of bids for the prestigious NPTE 2026 tournament. Rice qualified 4 teams for this prestigious event! The following Rice teams were announced:

Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer, currently ranked #2 in the nation
Ridhi Dondeti and William Wang, currently ranked #13 in the nation
Rohan Gupta and Travis Johson, currently ranked #10 in the nation
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin, currently ranked #12 in the nation

These pairs will represent Rice at the NPTW in March!

Golden Gate Invitational, University of California, Berkeley
2nd Place Sweepstakes

Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate
William Wang and Travis Johnson: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Speaker Awards:
Kyle Sanderfer: Top Overall Debate Speaker
Nikki Stancik: 3rd Overall Debate Speaker
William Wang: 10th Overall Debate Speaker

Online Asynchronous Tournament Series 5, January 19-23
Chloe Pesqueira: 3rd Extemporaneous Speaking

Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association State Tournament, January 6-8, San Marcos, TX

Sweepstakes: 2nd Place

Part 1:
Vedant Khadiya:
1st Place Individual Sweepstakes
1st Place Informative Speaking
2nd Communication Analysis
5th Impromptu Speaking
6th Persuasive Speaking

Reed Zimmerman: 5th Dramatic Interpretation

Daijah Wilson: 4th Dramatic Interpretation

Part 2:
Sweepstakes: 5th Place

Daijah Wilson: 1st Informative Speaking
6th Dramatic Interpretation
Vedant Khadiya: 2nd Communication Analysis
Ola Oladipo: 3rd Program Oral Interpretation
Reed Zimmerman: 3rd Dramatic Interpretation

Denison University BRM Debate Tournament, February 7-8, Virtual
Rohan Gupta and Molly Wladis: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Speaker Awards:
Karen Tang: Top Speaker
Molly Wladis: 2nd Overall Debate Speaker
Rohan Gupta: 5th Overall Debate Speaker

Rice will next compete in “The Texas Shuffle Swing” in San Antonio before entering “Nationals Season” in March and April.

Please join us in congratulating these academic competitors!

Rice Speech and Debate is coached by David Worth and Shannon LaBove. For more information, please visit humanities.rice.edu/speech-and-debate.

Rice Speech and Debate Wins 58 Awards in Fall 2025!

Rice’s Speech and Debate competitors are out there across the nation representing Rice with their usual commitment to eloquence, performance, and advocacy! Below is an update on the team’s accomplishments so far this fall.

Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association, Tyler, TX, November 8-9

Part 1:

Vedant Khadiya: 2nd Extemporaneous Speaking, 7th Impromptu Speaking

Reed Zimmerman: 5th After-Dinner Speaking

Maria Barajas: 1st Place Novice Extemporaneous Speaking

Part 2:

Reed Zimmerman: 3rd After-Dinner Speaking

Vedant Khadiya: 3rd Impromptu Speaking

University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, November 1-2

Special Award: Perpetual Sweepstakes Champion!
This is a multi-year measure of points accumulated over time. Rice Last won this award in 2013.

Sweepstakes 2nd Place

Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: 1st Place, Parliamentary Debate

William Wang and Ridhi Dondeti: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Rohan Gupta and Travis Johnson: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Molly Wladis and Madeliene Yuan: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Speaker Awards:

Nikki Stancik: 3rd Overall Debate Speaker

Kyle Sanderfer: 8th Overall Debate Speaker

Karen Tang: 9th Overall Debate Speaker

Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, October 11-12

Overall Sweepstakes: 3rd Place

Molly Wladis and Madeliene Yuan: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Lawrence Jin and Karen Tang: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

William Wang and Ridhi Dondeti: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Rohan Gupta and Travis Johnson: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Speaker Awards:

Kyle Sanderfer: 10th Overall Debate Speaker

Madeleine Yuan: 9th Overall Debate Speaker

Nikki Stancik: 8th Overall Debate Speaker

Rohan Guopta: 7th Overall Debate Speaker

Travis Johnson: 1st Overall Debate Speaker

Southern and Northern Atlantic Forensics Union (virtual, asynchronous), October 27-31

Daijah Wilson: 2nd Dramatic Interpretation

Rice University Classic, Rice, September 27-28

Rice hosted this annual event, welcoming more than 100 visitors to campus. Coaches and students pulled double-duty, competing, tabulating, and running the event.
Swing Sweepstakes: 1st Place
Part 1:
Sweepstakes: 1st Place
Vedant Khadiya: 7th Extemporaneous Speaking
Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: 1st Place, Parliamentary Debate

Rohan Gupta and Travis Johnson: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Ridhi Dondeti and William Wang: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Lawrence Jin and Karen Tang: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Madeleine Yuan and Molly Wladis: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Nikki Stancik: 2nd Overall Debate Speaker

Lawerence Jin: 3rd Overall Debate Speaker

Karen Tang: 4th Overall Debate Speaker

Kyle Sanderfer: 8th Overall Debate Speaker

Part 2:

Sweeps: 5th Place

Chloe Pesqueira 3rd Impromptu Speaking, 5th Informative Speaking

Daijah Wilson: 6th Dramatic Interpretation, 7th Prose Interpretation

Hill Country Swing, Texas State University and University of Texas, September 20-21

Swing Sweepstakes: 1st Place

Vedant Khadiya: 1st Place Top Swing Speaker

Part 1:
Sweepstakes 2nd Place

Vedant Khadiya: 1st Informative Speaking, 2nd Persuasive Speaking

Daijah Wilson: 2nd After Dinner Speaking

Part 2:
Sweepstakes 2nd Place

Vedant Khadiya: 1st Persuasive Speaking, 2nd Impromptu Speaking, 2nd Informative Speaking, 3rd Extemporaneous Speaking

Daijah Wilson: 2nd After Dinner Speaking, Finalist Dramatic Interpretation

Shay Olaifa: 4th Poetry Interpretation

Please join us in congratulating these academic competitors!

Rice Speech and Debate is coached by David Worth and Shannon LaBove. For more information, please visit humanities.rice.edu/speech-and-debate.

Rice Speech and Debate celebrated the beginning of a new season yesterday with the annual cookout at the Worth home!

Rice Speech and Debate Wins NPDA Sweepstakes National Championship in Debate, Excels in Speech, Brings Home 80 Awards!

Rice Speech and Debate has repeated its sweepstakes win at the National Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship Tournament, keeping the squad national championship at Rice! The squad came very close to closing out the final round, with a team in each semifinal bracket, and brought home the top two speaker awards, with a historic top speaker finish by Rija Naqvi.

So far this semester, Rice has brought home 80 awards! These incredible achievements show the hard work and dedication of these undergraduate academic competitors.

The team is not done yet. “Nationals season” is a time of year loosely analogous to March Madness, with the interesting difference being that there is more than one way to win in speech and debate. One way to think about it is to imagine that a basketball team could win both the NCAA and NIT championships. As they prepare for the American Forensic Association National Speech Tournament (speech nationals), the students are working hard to polish their 21 qualified events! We will update on the results after that event in April.

Meanwhile, here is a report on the team’s incredible accomplishments this semester:

National Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship Tournament, March 8-10, 2025, Lebanon, IL

This larger national tournament features highly competitive teams from around the nation. Rice’s history with the tournament extends back to the beginning of the format, with Rice only missing twice. Rice fielded five teams at this event, with four reaching elimination rounds, including first-year students Ridhi Dondeti and Travis Johnson.

Results:

Tournament Sweepstakes: 1st Place, National Champions
Season Sweepstakes: 1st Place, National Champions

Speaker Awards:
Rija Naqvi: Top Overall Speaker. This is a rare accomplishment. Rija is Rice’s first NPDA Top Speaker since 1996.

Nikki Stancik: 2nd Overall Speaker. This makes the duo of Stancik and Naqvi members of a very small group of partners who have taken the top two spots at NPDA.

Anna Phan: 18th Overall Speaker.

Rice came very close to closing out the final round:

Manna Trevino and Anna Phan: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate.

Rija Naqvi and Nikki Stancik: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate.

William Wang and Rohan Gupta: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate.

Ridhi Dondeti and Travis Johnson: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate.

Rice won 23 separate debates.

Rice had three NPDA All-American Team Selections. The All-American award recognizes students’ commitment to community service, academic excellence, and competitive success.
Rice All-Americans:
Rija Naqvi
Anna Phan
Manna Trevino

Coach honored: David Worth was awarded the Brent Northup Distinguished Service Award for decades of service to the NPDA community.

Coach Shannon LaBove continues to serve the community as Treasurer of NPDA.

This finish marks the team’s third Sweepstakes NPDA National Championship in the last four years and its sixth straight year with a top-four finish.

National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence, March 12-14, 2025, Lebanon, IL

The National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence is the second half of the traditional debate nationals run. Qualification for this tournament is based on wins in the regular season.

This tournament features the top 24 ranked teams in the nation in debates, with 2-7 judges in each round. It measures preliminary rounds by ballot count totals; elimination rounds are double-elimination. Teams are given a final ordinal ranking in the tournament.

Going into the tournament, Rice had the number two ranked team of Niqvi and Stancik, number 6 ranked Phan and Trevino, and number 9 ranked Sanderfer and Surya, automatically qualifying them for the tournament. Wang and Gupta qualified as well as an at-large bid, giving Rice the maximum possible entry for this event.

Results:

Rice Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate.

Manna Trevino and Anna Phan: Elimination Round 2
Nikki Stancik and Rija Naqvi: Elimination Round 2

Final placings:
Rice Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer: 4th Overall
Manna Trevino and Anna Phan 7th Overall
Nikki Stancik and Rija Naqvi 8th Overall

Speaker awards:

Nikki Stancik: 11th Overall Speaker.
Rija Naqvi: 13th Overall Speaker.
Arjun Surya: 14th Overall Speaker.
Kyle Sanderfer: 16th Overall Speaker.

Overall, Rice won 31 ballots.

Coach honored: David Worth was awarded the NPTE Most Preferred Critic Award. This award measures the judging preferences submitted by all students from all schools entered in the tournament.

American Forensic Association District III Qualifying Tournament, March 1, Tyler, TX.
This event is the final chance to qualify for the AFA-National Speech Tournament. Students who did not qualify for an event during the regular season can make a final attempt through the district tournament.

Results:
Maya Adhikari:
1st Impromptu Speaking

Chloe Pesqueira:
1st Extemporaneous Speaking
3rd Impromptu Speaking

Daijah Wilson:
1st Prose Interpretation

Battle of Flowers Oratorical Contest, February 28, San Antonio, TX
This selective event is the nation’s second-oldest speech contest. Students are competitively selected and deliver memorized manuscript speeches on Texas-oriented themes. Rice has been represented well at this event over the years, and this year was no exception. Maya Adhikari was selected as Rice’s representative this year. Congratulations, Maya!

Texas Shuffle Swing/SAC and TJC February 22-23, San Antonio, TX

Part 1
Sweepstakes: 4th

Catherine Cheng:
2nd Dramatic Interpretation

Maya Adhikari:
1st Place Individual Sweepstakes
2nd Extemporaneous Speaking
2nd Impromptu Speaking
2nd Informative Speaking
3rd Communication Analysis

Vedant Khadiya:
3rd After Dinner Speaking
4th Impromptu Speaking

Part 2
Sweepstakes: 2nd

Vedant Khadiya:
1st Impromptu Speaking
2nd After Dinner Speaking

Maya Adhikari:
1st Communication Analysis
2nd Informative Speaking
5th Impromptu Speaking

Mercer University, February 15-16, Macon, GA
Sweepstakes: 1st Place

Manna Trevino and Anna Phan: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate.

Rija Naqvi and Nikki Stancik: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate.

Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate.

Speaker Awards:
Arjun Surya: Top Speaker. His name will go on the inaugural Cam Wade Perpetual Plaque, a traveling trophy honoring Wade and the top speakers at this event.
Kyle Sanderfer: 4th
Manna Trevino: 6th
Anna Phan: 7th

Rice won 16 separate debates.

Cornell University/Southern and Northern Atlantic Forensic Union, February 1-2, Ithaca, NY
Part 1
Maya Adhikari:
3rd Communication Analysis

Shay Olaifa:
4th Prose Interpretation

Part 2
Maya Adhikari:
4th Communication Analysis

Catherine Cheng:
4th Dramatic Interpretation

University of North Carolina-Charlotte, January 25-26

Sweepstakes: 1st Place

Shay Olaifa:
1st Programmed Oral Interpretation
1st Prose Interpretation

Caleb Lin:
2nd Poetry Interpretation

Catherine Cheng:
2nd Dramatic Interpretation
4th Programmed Oral Interpretation

Daijah Wilson:
2nd Persuasive Speaking
3rd Prose Interpretation
4th Informative Speaking

Maya Adhikari:
2nd Extemporaneous Speaking
3rd Persuasive Speaking

Chloe Pesqueira:
4th Impromptu Speaking
Finalist: Informative Speaking


University of Texas at Austin, January 18-19

Part 1
Pranav Nagajothi: 4th Extemporaneous Speaking
Vedant Khadiya: 6th Extemporaneous Speaking

Part 2
Pranav Nagajothi: 2nd Extemporaneous Speaking

Mound High Swing, McKendree University, Lebanon, IL, January 9-12
Part 1
Rija Naqvi and Nikki Stancik: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate.
William Wang and Rohan Gupta: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate.

Part 2
Anna Phan and Manna Trevino: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate.
Rija Naqvi and Nikki Stancik: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate.
Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate.
Ridhi Dondeti and Travis Johson: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate.
William Wang and Rohan Gupta: Double-octa finalists, Parliamentary Debate.

I-70 Cup winner (Best combined performance at regional tournaments):
Rija Naqvi and Nikki Stancik

Combined speaker awards
Rija Naqvi: 10th

NPTE 1st Round Bid Announcements:
Anna Phan and Manna Trevino
Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer
Rija Naqvi and Nikki Stancik

Please join us in congratulating these academic competitors! The team will next compete at the American Forensic Association National Speech Tournament, hosted by the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Rice Speech and Debate is coached by David Worth and Shannon LaBove. For more information, please visit humanities.rice.edu/speech-and-debate.

Rice finished out the NPDA-NPTE run in grand style!

NPTE 2025 RESULTS!

Rice Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer reached Semifinals!

Manna Trevino and Anna Phan reached Elim 2!
Nikki Stancik and Rija Naqvi reached Elim 2!

Final placings:
Rice Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer 4th!
Manna Trevino and Anna Phan 7th!
Nikki Stancik and Rija Naqvi 8th!

Speaker awards!
Nikki Stancik 11th
Rija Naqvi 13th
Arjun Surya 14th
Kyle Sanderfer 16th

David Worth was awarded the Most Preferred Critic Award!

Travis Johnson did an outstanding job as squad support!
RFND!

National Championship Squad!

Rice Speech and Debate is halfway through the NPDA-NPTE run. NPDA concluded yesterday, and Rice won 1st in Tournament Sweepstakes and 1st in Season Sweepstakes!

Rija Naqvi took Top Speaker!

Her partner, NIkki Stancik, was 2nd Speaker!
Anna Phan was 18th Speaker!

Naqvi/Stancik and Manna Trevino/Anna Phan each reached the semifinals!

William Wang/Rohan Gupta and Ridhi Dondeti/Travis Johnson each reached the octafinals!

David Worth was awarded the Brent Northup Distinguished Service Award!

RFND!

Rice Speech and Debate Brings Home 91 Awards in Fall 2024!

The George R. Brown Forensics Society, Rice’s speech and debate team, closed out a very successful semester of competition last weekend. Using their voices to express themselves, empower others, and enhance their education, the team works hard to represent Rice with excellence as academic competitors.

As of November 22, Rice has three of the top ten and four of the top twenty parliamentary debate teams in the nation in the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence rankings!

Nikki Stancik and Rija Naqvi are ranked 1st
Manna Trevino and Anna Phan are ranked 3rd
Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer are ranked 6th
Rohan Gupta and Travis Johnson are ranked 14th

In addition, the team has qualified ten speech events for the American Forensics Association National Speech Tournament!

Individual tournament results are listed below.

Hill Country Swing, University of Texas at Austin, September 21-22
Part 1:
Maya Adhikari:
2nd Persuasive Speaking
Daijah Wilson:
5th Persuasive Speaking
Pranav Nagajothi:
5th Extemporaneous Speaking
Shay Olaifa:
6th Program Oral Interpretation

Part 2:
Maya Adhikari:
2nd Persuasive Speaking
Daijah Wilson:
4th Persuasive Speaking
Chloe Pesqueira:
3rd Persuasive Speaking

Rice University Classic, September 28-29
In addition to competing, Rice played host to competitors from across the nation on our campus.
Part 1:
Debate Sweepstakes: 1st
Overall Sweepstakes: 2nd

Catherine Cheng:
4th Program Oral Interpretation
Caleb Lin:
5th Poetry Interpretation
Vedant Khadiya:
6th Impromptu Speaking

Debate Awards:
Anna Phan and Manna Trevino:
Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Nikki Stancik and Rija Naqvi:
Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

William Wang and Rohan Gupta:
Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Debate speaker awards:
1st Kyle Sanderfer
4th Arjun Surya
5th Ridhi Dondeti
6th Anna Phan
7th Travis Johnson

Overall, Rice won 22 separate debates.

Part 2:
Chloe Pesqueira:
3rd Impromptu Speaking
4th Persuasive Speaking
Pranav Nagajothi:
4th Extemporaneous Speaking
Catherine Cheng:
4th Program Oral Interpretation
Vedant Khadiya:
4th Impromptu Speaking
5th Poetry Interpretation

Sweepstakes: 2nd
Swing Sweepstakes: 2nd

Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, October 12-13

Debate Sweepstakes:
2nd Place

Nikki Stancik and Rija Naqvi:
2nd Place Parliamentary Debate
Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer:
Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate
William Wang and Ridhi Dondeti:
Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Anna Phan and Manna Trevino
Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Debate speaker awards:
2nd Nikki Stancik
6th Kyle Sanderfer
9th William Wang
10th Arjun Surya

Overall, Rice won 19 separate debates.

Battle at the Alamo, San Antonio, TX October 18-19

Part 1:
Pranav Nagajothi:
3rd Extemporaneous Speaking
Vedant Khadiya:
5th Impromptu Speaking

Part 2:
Pranav Nagajothi:
1st Extemporaneous Speaking
Vedant Khadiya:
5th Extemporaneous Speaking
Pranav Nagajothi:
3rd Impromptu Speaking

Fall Lucky 7 Asynchronous Invitational, November 11-15
Pranav Nagajothi:
1st Impromptu Speaking

University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, November 2-3

4-year Sweepstakes 2nd place
4-year Swing Sweepstakes 3rd Place

Nikki Stancik and Rija Naqvi:
2nd Place Parliamentary Debate

Arjun Surya and Kyle Sanderfer:
Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Anna Phan and Manna Trevino:
Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

William Wang and Rohan Gupta:
Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Ridhi Dondeti and Travis Johnson:
Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Debate speaker awards:
2nd Rija Naqvi
3rd Nikki Stancik
4th Manna Trevino

Overall, Rice won 23 separate debates.

Speech Awards:
Chloe Pesqueira:
3rd Persuasive Speaking
4th Impromptu Speaking
5th Extemporaneous Speaking

Maya Adhikari:
4th Persuasive Speaking

Mustang Invitational, Stockton, CA, November 2

Chloe Pesqueira:
2nd Persuasive Speaking
3rd Impromptu Speaking
5th Extemporaneous Speaking

Maya Adhikari:
2nd Communication Analysis
3rd Persuasive Speaking
6th Extemporaneous Speaking

Southern and Northern Atlantic Forensic Union, Seton Hall University, November 9-10

Part 1:
Sweepstakes:
1st Place, Limited Entry Sweeps
Vedant Khadiya:
1st Extemporaneous Speaking
Caleb Lin:
2nd Poetry Interpretation
Catherine Cheng:
2nd Program Oral Interpretation
Daijah Wilson:
4th Persuasive Speaking
Vedant Khadiya:
Finalist, Impromptu Speaking

Part 2:
Caleb Lin:
3rd Poetry Interpretation
Catherine Cheng:
3rd Program Oral Interpretation
Daijah Wilson:
4th Informative Speaking

AFA-NST District III Fall Qualifying Tournament, Online, November 16

Daijah Wilson:
2nd Persuasive Speaking
4th Informative Speaking
Shay Olaifa:
4th Program Oral Interpretation
Caleb Lin
4th Poetry Interpretation

William Jewell College, November 15-17, Liberty, MO
Part 1:

Debate speaker awards:
3rd Anna Phan
4th Manna Trevino
10th Nikki Stancik

Rohan Gupta and Travis Johnson:
Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Anna Phan and Manna Trevino:
Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Overall, Rice won 12 separate debates.

Part 2:
Rija Naqvi and Nikki Stancik:
Tie for 1st Place, Parliamentary Debate

Anna Phan and Manna Trevino:
Tie for 1st Place, Parliamentary Debate
(These two teams closed out the final round!)

Rohan Gupta and Travis Johnson:
Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate (conceding to Phan/Trevino in a closeout of their semifinal round)

Debate speaker awards:
1st Nikki Stancik
5th Rija Naqvi
8th Anna Phan
9th Rohan Gupta
10th Travis Johnson

Overall, Rice won 18 separate debates.

Please join us in congratulating these academic competitors! This concludes competition for the Fall semester. The team will resume competing in January 2025.

Rice Speech and Debate is housed in the School of Humanities and is coached by David Worth and Shannon LaBove. For more information, please visit humanities.rice.edu/speech-and-debate.