Ryan, Kretz and Atcheson will debate the Irish
Students from Wyoming, Colorado and Oregon will represent the National Parliamentary Debate Association in the annual Irish/U.S. debate at nationals.
Jess Ryan of the University of Wyoming, Adam Kretz of Colorado College and Eric Atcheson of Lewis & Clark College will debate the three Irish champions on Thursday, March 27 at 4:30 p.m. at the opening assembly at the United States Air Force Academy.
Ireland’s three best debaters, who will be chosen at the Irish Times debate final held in Dublin on Feb. 29, will oppose the Americans.
The students are all top debaters whose lives and contributions extend well beyond forensics.
All three teams are among the top 25 in NPTE’s national rankings, and two are among the top 10. Jess Ryan and partner Tony Roberts are ranked 7th, Atcheson and Scott Cheesewright are 10th while Kretz and Julian Plaza are 21st.
Ryan, 22, is a senior majoring in Communication with a minor in art. Ryan, who has his own pottery studio, has had art honored at Wyoming Art Symposiums. Ryan, who attended Lander Valley High in Lander, Wyo., was invited to the national conference hosted by the National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts. Ryan is also a river and mountaineering guide and has spent many summers working with kids at summer camps. His supervisors praise him as “conscientious, punctual, reliable, hardworking, and accountable.”
Ryan grew up in an intercultural setting, often “attending sweats on the reservation and dancing in powwows” near Lander. He has respect for other cultures and his family raised two Native American foster children, Ryan’s sisters. His life began with outreach to other cultures, and the Irish debate provides yet another opportunity. Ryan’s roots, in part, trace to Ireland.
Ryan, who is coached by Blake Carothers and Matt Stannard, will stay at Wyoming as an assistant coach next year, after which he intends to attend graduate school in communication. Ryan has won numerous top speaker awards at tournaments such as Claremont Invitational, the Regis swing and Puget Sound’s round robin. He won the Logan Will award as top speaker at the Hatfield debates this year.
"It's a great honor to be chosen to represent the University of Wyoming as well as the American parliamentary community,” says Ryan. “ I hope that I can help make the event enjoyable for everyone and that we can show the Irish what debate in America is all about.”
Kretz, 21, is a political science major and religion minor at Colorado College who sports a 3.88 GPA. Kretz has accepted a yearlong fellowship next year at a Denver nonprofit organization, the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, where he will engage in public policy research on the effects of Colorado's financial policies on low-income families, and advocate on behalf of these constituencies before the governor and legislature. Eventually he would like to attend law school, with specific interest in Constitutional and Environmental Law.
Kretz has taught debate, film studies and constitutional law at a Yale summer program. Kretz serves on the Honor Council at Colorado College, which educates students on integrity and mutual trust.
He enjoys the competition but does not see himself “going into a debate like this trying to win a ballot or beat my opponent, but rather to show our greater community that the very best parts of debate are its entertaining, fun and good-natured atmosphere.”
Coached by Scott Weaver, Kretz has won numerous speaker awards and reached the semi-finals at last year’s NPDA national championship.
“I’m thrilled,” says Kretz, who serves as NPDA’s national student representative. “It's an honor to be chosen to debate alongside two of the best debaters and nicest guys in the community, especially in such a prestigious venue in front of our community and friends.”
Atcheson, 22, is a religious studies major and classical studies minor who plans to pursue a Master’s of Divinity degree at Berkeley, Chicago or Claremont, and become a minister. Atcheson’s life has been devoted to helping others in projects such as the Heart of America charity drive and in Kenya where he spent the summer of 2006 doing mission work at HIV/AIDS clinics.
Coached by Steve Hunt, Atcheson and his partner are a top-ranked team with semi-finals or better at tournaments such as Regis and Western Washington. And when Atcheson debated with Hoda Ilias at the Hatfields: same result, a final round. He’s a fine speaker, often recognized such as his second speaker award at Colorado College. He has had success in world-style debate as well, winning a Northwest Worlds event.
"From the very beginning of my parliamentary debate career, I viewed participation in the Irish debates as a tremendous honor,” said Atcheson. “It is a privilege to be offered this opportunity to share the stage not only with the Irish national champions, but also with Adam and Jess. I take a lot of pride in the chance to represent my school and my country in an activity that has meant so much to me for years."
All three debaters have high hopes they can make the debate memorable for those watching.
“I hope that Jess, Eric and I can show that Americans can be just as funny and eloquent as the best Irish debaters,” said Kretz.
"I hope that the audience will be able to share in a fun and educational exchange of ideas and that everyone can take a lot away from the experience,” said Ryan.
Atcheson hopes the debate offers some “new perspectives of the world we live in, as debaters and as students” and he hopes “the games-playing aspect of debate will take a backseat in favor of making sure that this particular debate is ultimately democratic.”
Atcheson also hopes the Americans won’t lose the battle of wits.
“Perhaps we can show that American debaters can be witty and engaging as well, even if we lack the Irish accent," he said.