Forensics and Debate Awards
Paul Nine Award: Irshad Husain
Paul Nine was a highly successful debater for Wayne State and is a prominent local attorney and remains a substantial supporter of our program. He was on the second team that WSU qualified to the National Debate Tournament in 1961, the first to reach elimination rounds at the NDT and he was the 9th speaker in the nation. An award in his name is given to recognize the top overall debaters for the season.
Angela Cowan Memorial Award: Mirrabella Trestrail
I must give credit to my wife for this award's description: Angela walked onto the debate team in 1993 with no previous experience. She thought the activity would be good for her resume. She immediately became an integral member of the squad winning top speaker in the novice division at her very first tournament. During her tenure at Wayne State she maintained a near perfect grade point average, worked multiple internships including one at the White House, and continued to thrive in debate. Her senior year she reached the elimination rounds of the NDT. That same year she scored in the 98th percentile on the LSAT and earned acceptance into all 12 of the top law schools in the country.
Jane Greco Memorial Award: David Foust
This award recognizes the most improved debater on the team. This award is given in tribute to Jane, who was the premier debate coach in Michigan at Royal Oak Kimball High School. Many Wayne students came from her program or were judged and instructed by her at summer institutes.
Alfonso Rodriguez Award: Lukis Bagdon
Alfonso was an earlier member of the team, obtaining both his bachelor's and master's degrees at Wayne State. He later went on to serve in the elite Office of Special Services (OSS) (the early CIA) during World War II and eventually became Director of Training in the CIA. Alfonso always spoke with fondness of his experiences as a debater and speaker at Wayne State. We give this award to recognize students who excel in academics despite the heavy workload of being a debate team member.
Raymond and Alice Hayes: Victoria George, Megan Dombrowski
First awarded in 1977, this award recognizes the best second year students on the debate team. Raymond joined the team as a freshman in 1935 and by '37-38, he was one of the best debaters on the team. In 1938, he served as the coach of the freshman team.
Donald Ritzenhein Award: Faith Howard, Mackenzie Bisdorf
Ritzenhein was the 1965 recipient of the David A. Goldman Award for outstanding first year debater. In 1967, he was a finalist at the National Debate Tournament and a Quarterfinalist the following year. He has tirelessly rooted for the program and was crucial in finishing the George W. Ziegelmueller $1 million endowment goal. We have renamed the Goldman award in Don's honor based on his commitment and contribution to the program over the years. This award recognizes the top first year debate students of the year.
Jack Kay Public Address Award: Jenna Alamat
Dr. Kay was an undergraduate competitor and later coach of both the speech and debate team. He later directed forensics at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In recent years, Dr. Kay held several high level administrative positions at Wayne State, Michigan-Flint and Eastern Michigan University. Sadly, Dr. Kay passed away in 2015. In recognition of Dr. Kay's work in public address and support of the program, we present an award for the best public address competitor.
Shawn McGee Kahle Award: Miranda Sadik
Shawn is the Vice President of Corporate Communications at Assurant Inc. Prior to this Shawn has worked at a number of corporate and non-profit organizations in public relations, management and speech writing and consulting. Additionally, she has held more than 20 civic, non-profit and professional board posts. We recognize her outstanding work as a competitor, coach, and long supporter of the program by recognizing the top first year student performance.