Two national champions normally on the same side of an argument found themselves head-to-head in the inaugural Paul Simon Debate.

Ben Campbell, a senior from Springfield, Mo. studying political science, and Josh Rivera, a junior from Chicago studying political science and economics, faced off in the debate Monday at the Student Center Auditorium.

Campbell and Rivera won both the National Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship and the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence National Championship in March.

Advertisement

Chancellor Rita Cheng said Rivera and Campbell are indicative of the success students can reach.

“Wherever our debaters and coaches travel they’re outstanding representatives of SIU,” she said. “They serve as an example of our commitment to excellence, our student success commitment and we really do prove that big things are in reach here.”

David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said the institute put on the competition because the community rarely gets to see the debate team in action.

“Any time anybody is successful on this campus in any field we all benefit,” he said. “Whether you’ve got a good football team or somebody winning an award for research, it lifts all the boats. This is a source of pride and it enhances our image. We should always celebrate each other’s successes.”

The two showcased their skills to a crowd of more than 150 about whether or not to raise the Illinois minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, with Campbell arguing in favor of the resolution and Rivera arguing against.

However, instead of the typical format, the two competed in a “Shark Tank” style debate complete with their coaching staff of graduate students Steven Farias and Mike Selck and fellow teammate Ariana Arnone, a freshman from Chicago studying political science and communication studies, redirecting questions towards the two.

The crowd was polled before the debate began with an initial tally of 80 in favor of the resolution and 65 against. By the time the two finished, the poll showed 75 in favor and 77 against making Rivera the victor.w

Advertisement*

Campbell and Rivera said although the debate was different in terms of style, they were comfortable with the format. Campbell said the two are constantly competing against each other while simultaneously working together.

“We’re teammates obviously and our competition was in good sport, just going back and forth in terms of individual rankings in tournaments,” he said. “So I think it was sort of like that minor competition that was sort of a joke being blown into a public event where it’s like the two heavyweight national champions duking it out.”

Todd Graham, the director of debate, said the competition was nothing out of the ordinary for the two.

“If they said it was something new, they’d be liars,” he said. “I watch them debate each other informally all the time. We have topics that come up every week to research, and Josh will have an opinion and Ben will have an opinion. While oftentimes those opinions might be similar, oftentimes they’re not. So I’ve seen them hash out arguments all the time.”

The two roommates were given a week to prepare for the debate instead of the typical 20 minutes.

“It’s been an interesting experience waking up in the morning and looking at Josh and just being like, ‘I’ve got you,’” he said. “You know those sort of things. It’s just been fun and in sport.”

Rivera said despite the competition between the two, they’ve remained excellent teammates even through arguments.

“When you debate for a while, it’s not an activity where people get overheated,” he said. “It’s really fun to win or lose rounds on something small or minute.”

Campbell and Rivera each showed off their unique style as well. Graham said pairing two debaters with different styles works well as it can appeal to individual judges.

Campbell said the coaching staff did a superb job of finding the strengths and weaknesses of the two in competition throughout the year.

“The job of the coaching staff – and what they’ve done so well – is sort of find what Ben and I do well and ensure that we can help each other out,” he said. “In debate, you need someone to slow down and give the big picture and someone to provide the minutia. It will change between Ben and I depending on the topic.”

Rivera said he has high expectations for the debate team next year, when he will be paired with Arnone as well as other new debaters.

“When you enter SIU’s debate team, the goal is to win a national championship,” he said. “That’s told to you from day one. So we’re going to keep on doing what we’ve been doing and adapt to the new debaters we have.”

Graham said he received entirely positive feedback from the audience. Yepsen said the institute plans to do more events like this with the debate team in the future.

“I think it accomplished what we wanted to do and that is highlight a nationally recognized group of people,” he said. “I think it’s important to people on campus to realize we have this group of people on campus. They’re the best there is.”

Seth Richardson can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @EgyptianRich or at 536-3311 ext. 268.