Earlier this month, a pair of Binghamton University students won first place at the 79th National Debate Tournament, the first ever from a college or university in New York.

Debate partners Eli Turner-Louis, a senior majoring in Africana studies, and Jeremiah Cohn, a junior majoring in sociology, defeated a team from the University of Kansas to win the competition, held this year at Gonzaga University in Washington state.

“Eli and Jeremiah really worked well together as partnership,” wrote Joseph Leeson-Schatz ‘01, MA ‘03, Ph.D. ‘09, the director of debate at BU. “They knew what each other needed, how to support their research interests, and both had a fire inside to win that’s unmatched in most students I come across.”

“To win the 79th Annual National Debate Tournament twenty years after the first time Binghamton University ever qualified is really a full circle moment to show how much we’ve gotten over the past two decades,” he continued. “Whereas 20 years ago we were just happy to quality, now we’re there to win and be at the top.”

In the final round, the teams debated transitioning the United States away from fossil fuels, which is usually done with market-oriented policies like a carbon tax. Turner-Louis and Cohn argued against the Kansas team’s proposal for a luxury tax on carbon emissions by questioning underlying assumptions and potential biases, winning in a 3-2 decision.

Last spring, the debate team won the Cross-Examination Debate Association’s national championship, beating institutions like Harvard University. While winning CEDA Nationals is a feat in and of itself, the National Debate Tournament is more competitive and is considered the most prestigious debate championship at the national level.

The team puts in more than 30 hours a week of work, including research, creating arguments and holding practice debates, according to Leeson-Schatz.

“A lot of work was put into this NDT win,” Turner-Louis wrote. “It was years in the making. That said, what best contributed to my win was the small community I kept around and my coach Ryan Wash. This community was the resource I needed to keep going and growing and doing better.”

Both students shared appreciation and gratitude for Wash, a mentor of BU’s team, and each other. Cohn thanked Wash and Turner-Louis for being “incredibly supportive of my growth this year ensuring my transition from budding sophomore to junior capable of going toe to toe with seniors from other programs.”

With graduation around the corner, Turner-Louis said she hopes to be able to support others without struggling and that debate has allowed her to network with people who can “help clear that path.” She looks forward to seeing what her fellow team members will do.

Last May, State Sen. Lea Webb ‘04 and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo MA ‘84 passed a joint legislative resolution honoring last year’s team for winning the Cross-Examination Debate Association’s national championship.

Leeson-Schatz has led students in other debate opportunities this past year, bringing five students to debate a group of incarcerated individuals through the National Prison Debate League earlier this year. With about 100 inmates watching, the group debated against the Cheshire Correctional Institution’s team in a cell block in Cheshire, Connecticut.

Team members have gone on to work in fields like law, education, medicine, engineering and business, Leeson-Schatz wrote.

“Debate prepares students for whatever they want to do in life since, no matter what you do, you need to be and to advocate for yourself, critically think through information, and effectively communicate with others,” he wrote.