Tiffee earns top honors at Manchester Union Debate

SAN MARCOS – The U.S. National Debate Team, featuring Matthew Tiffee of Texas State University-San Marcos, won first place at the Manchester Union Debate Tournament in Manchester, England, last week.

In addition to the team win, Tiffee, a junior communication studies major from Buda, was also named the tournament’s Top Speaker.

“ This is our second student to win Top Speaker in an international tournament,” said Wayne Kramer, director of the LBJ Debate Society. “His brother, Sean, won Top Speaker at the first-ever English-speaking debate tournament held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2002.

“ This is the second time we’ve had an international top speaker award, but the first time we’ve had a student win the team award. That’s an impressive accomplishment,” he said. “I used to kid him that he’ll always be viewed as Sean Tiffee’s little brother, but now maybe Sean will have to be viewed as Matthew’s big brother.”

Tiffee and his debate partner, Benjamin Krupicka of Willamette University, are currently in Great Britain, participating in the 79th annual U.S. debate tour of Britain and Portugal sponsored by the National Communication Association’s Committee on International Debate and Discussion. The debaters will return to the U.S. March 23, after completing an itinerary that includes stops in Britain’s historic education centers of Oxford and Cambridge, as well as Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Portugal.