February 6, 2020
UK Debate Team National Champions Recognized at UK Basketball Game
By Meg Mills and Amy Jones-Timoney
(left to right) Anthony Trufanov, Dan Bannister, Dave Arnett (coach); Mark Cornelison | UKphoto
Last March, the University of Kentucky Debate Team of Dan Bannister and Anthony Trufanov defeated the University of Georgia to become the 2019 National Debate Tournament (NDT) champions. This was the second win at the NDT for UK and the first in 33 years. The previous winning team was Ouita Michel and David Brownell in 1986.
To make it to the final round with Georgia UK had to defeat some of the best teams in the country such as Northwestern, Cornell, Berkeley, Michigan and Kansas.
During the Tuesday, Feb. 4, men's basketball game at Rupp Arena, UK honored both Bannister and Trufanov, along with David Arnett the debate program director.
Most recently the UK Debate Team, housed in the College of Communication and Information, started their 2019-2020 season off strong by winning the three-day Hoosier Invitational, hosted by the University of Indiana. The UK team is now preparing for tournaments at the Naval Academy and the University of Texas-Austin as they continue to defend their national champion title.
You can follow the debate team at http://ci.uky.edu/UKDebate/.