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Jose Martinez ’18 and Julia Montejo ’17 recently took top honors in the Spanish division of the Pan American University Debating Championship.

A Cornell Forensics Society team took top honors in the Spanish division of the Pan American University Debating Championship Jan. 25 in Miami, Florida.

This competition brought teams from schools across the country and from Chile, Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala.

Cornell teams competed in English and Spanish divisions. The team of Julia Montejo ’17 and Jose Martinez ’18, both students in the College of Arts and Sciences, won the Spanish division in the “Worlds debate” style, a highly interactive and limited-preparation form of debate that encourages speakers to focus on specific issues.

The Pan American championship was the first time Montejo and Martinez worked together, so to prepare, Martinez said they “had to practice debating together in English against other Cornell teams to get adjusted to each other.”

Montejo and Martinez are both fluent in Spanish, but this was the first time that either of them had debated in Spanish.

“Debating in Spanish is an entirely different experience,” Martinez said.

Sam Nelson, director of the Cornell Forensics Society, said Montejo and Martinez also worked with Spanish professor Patricia Keller to improve their Spanish when debating.

Montejo enjoyed how diverse this tournament was, which made it interesting to “meet people of very different backgrounds, and hear stories of their experiences.”

Montejo said she is “extremely proud of the work our team and coaches put in to be able to accomplish this.”

Both Montejo and Martinez were on their high-school debate teams and have decided to continue debating in college because it helps them to become better public speakers, speak up for themselves and see different perspectives.

“Debate requires that I think beyond how issues affect just me, and to examine how they affect many groups of people,” Montejo said.

Nelson said although many students on the Cornell Forensics Society team have had experience with debate, anyone is welcome to join the team and no prior experience is necessary.

Anna Carmichael ’18 is a communications assistant for the College of Arts and Sciences.