A Lipscomb University student is single-handedly conquering debate competitions this spring.
Jana Robinson, a freshman from Nashville, recently won seven awards including the quality team award - even though Lipscomb has no forensic team - at the national Christian Collegiate Forensics Invitational Tournament held at Cedarville University in Ohio.
Entered in the novice division, Robinson won first place in dramatic interpretation, poetry interpretation, and faith literature; second place in prose interpretation and third place in programmed oral interpretation, said Dr. Kenneth R. Schott, professor of communication at Lipscomb.
She became the first individual to win a team award by scoring an average of 97.5 out of 100 for five events. The next closest university scored an average of 97 points, Schott said. Robinson also won a second-place team award in individual events sweepstakes for small colleges.
"Jana is an exceptional interpreter and has won ten awards in just one semester of competition," Schott said. "She deserves a lot of credit. She has the determination to prepare and motivate herself even without a team or a forensic coach."
In February, Robinson placed first in dramatic interpretation, second in programmed oral interpretation and third in prose interpretation at the Tennessee State Championship held at Tennessee Tech University.
She also competed in a tournament at Tennessee State University and has qualified for the National Forensic Association Tournament to be held in Chicago, which she will not attend because it is the week before final exams.
"I've had a lot of outstanding debaters over the years, but she is the best competitor in oral interpretation from Lipscomb that I can remember," Schott said.
Robinson is an English-teaching major and hopes to coach her own high school forensic team one day. She already is helping to coach students at her alma mater, Nashville's John Overton High School, two days per week.
From the 1950s through the 1980s, Lipscomb featured one of the best forensic teams in the region. The forensic program was replaced by public relations as the Department of Communication changed its focus from public speaking to public relations, journalism and mass communication. Today, public relations is the largest major in the department, Schott said.