“It’s the start of something that’s going to be really great”

Starting a team from the ground up is no easy task. Richard Besel, GVSU professor of communication and media studies, knows this challenge firsthand. 

In 2019, Besel worked to start a speech and debate team, also known as a forensics team, at Grand Valley. The team managed to send a student to a competition, but momentum was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic and funding uncertainties.

During the fall 2025 semester, Besel received the opportunity to build a team again, this time as an extracurricular activity funded by the School of Communications and a grant from the CLAS Center for Experiential Learning. In the midst of its inaugural season, the new team is focused on growth.

“Everybody's working at their own pace, but it's nice to see how it's influencing them, how it's changing them,” Besel said about the team’s commitment to development.

“As a coach, you're happy to see that hard work your students put in pay off in the eyes of the judges."

The GVSU Speech and Debate team entered its first competitions in December, sending four competitors to Indianapolis for two tournaments that proved successful for the inexperienced team.

The Lakers placed well, placing third in team debate in one competition and having two finish fourth and fifth in the poetry competition.

Evelyn Maiuri, a third-year health communications student, placed fourth in the poetry competition. Before joining the team, she had no prior experience in forensics and said she found the first competition eased her nerves.

“It was a little bit scary because I don't have any experience competing,” she said. “It was exciting.”

Maiuri spent her first semester on the team focusing on developing her skills in poetry interpretation for competition. She plans to add persuasive speaking to her list of competitions this semester.

Like Maiuri, Lexi Green, a first-year elementary education student, focuses on the speech competitions. Green was a part of her forensics team in high school and jumped at the opportunity to join the GVSU team after overhearing a conversation about it at the Speech Lab.

“Voice holds so much power, and I love to be able to express topics I'm passionate about,” said Green, who took home the top novice award at the team's Indianapolis tournament.

Besel said speech and debate teach and develop many speaking skills that students can use throughout their lives and careers. Alongside debate and interpretive speaking, students have the opportunity to compete in persuasive speaking, impromptu speaking and special occasion speaking.

For communications studies students James Almeda and Demante Phillips, joining the speech and debate team was an opportunity to grow skill sets they will need for their future careers. Both students intend to pursue law degrees and have focused on the debate side of forensics.

“I like to argue,” said Phillips, a third-year student. “It's good experience for the courtroom setting.”

Almeda said Besel's background as a former forensics competitor himself has been a great asset in his growth as a debater.

“I sort of lean toward instinct in debate, but with that knowledge of theory, it really helps,” he said about Besel’s impact as a coach.

Building for the future

The responsibility of recruiting and continuing the team into future years is not lost on the forensics team members. They have a home base in the Speech Lab where they can put trophies and other accolades, but building tradition and passing on leadership is up to them.

“Since I have a year and a half, maybe two years, left, I really want to coach. I want to coach others to get out there and debate,” said Phillips.

The students said they are proud to be a part of the group that is getting the fledgling team off the ground.

“I think it's the start of something that's going to be really great,” said Green. “I'm excited to see what it’s going to be like in four or five years when I’m done here.”

Besel said any student can join the team at any time. Interested students can reach out to Besel at [email protected] .