JBU Student Wins National Championship at Debate Tournament

John Brown University student Matt Logan received the recognition of Season Long Novice National Champion this past weekend at the International Public Debate Association’s National Tournament and Convention, among a field of more than 490 competitors from 106 universities. Throughout the season Logan, a sophomore in business administration, won three debate tournament titles as Novice Tournament Champion, Arkansas State Champion and Southern Forensics Champion.

“I’ve enjoyed competing with the JBU Forensics team this year,” Logan said. “The JBU education model helps in that it teaches individuals to have a well-rounded knowledge base and encourages diversity of thought; something that is crucial to debate. Our JBU Forensics Director Chris Brown is brilliant, and any of my success is ultimately attributed to him.”

At this weekend’s National Tournament, the JBU Forensics team competed against over 250 competitors from more than 30 universities at Arkansas Tech University. Logan took third in the Novice Division and was a double octofinalist.

Garrit Headley, freshman business management major, headed into preliminaries with a 7 – 1 lead, became an octofinalist and received seventh place in the junior varsity division. Noah Hackendorf, freshman philosophy major, and Julia Bentley, junior psychology major, also competed, finishing with a 4-4 record.

“I am extremely proud of what the team was able to accomplish this year,” Brown said. “I was able to watch them grow in debate and in life, and I can’t wait to see what the team will accomplish next.”

The national tournament concludes the travel schedule for JBU Forensics this academic year. For more information about JBU Forensics, please contact Chris Brown at ChrBrown@jbu.edu.

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas’ top-ranked regional university (U.S. News Best Colleges, 2017), JBU enrolls more than 2,700 students from 40 states and 37 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, degree completion and concurrent education programs. JBU offers more than 39 majors, with top programs including business administration, graphic design, engineering, construction management, counseling, teacher education and nursing.