Over President’s Day weekend the Jesuit Dallas Debate Team had the wonderful opportunity to travel to UC Berkeley to compete at the prestigious Cal Invitational debate tournament. Two teams went on the trip: Jesuit BP (Henry Banse ’26 and Nathan Pascas ’26) and Jesuit CS (Langdon Carver ’26 and Johnathan Shu ’27). They were coached by Dr. McFarland, Mr. Lingel, and alumnus Coach Moore ’19. Before the trip, Nathan said he was excited and, “a little nervous, but that’s to be expected at big tournaments like these.”
Arriving at Berkeley
The debate team arrived early Friday morning at DFW International Airport to take a three-and-a-half-hour flight to San Francisco. Upon arrival, the team rented a car and drove across the Bay Bridge to Oakland, where they would be staying at the Courtyard Oakland hotel in downtown. The team got to explore Okland’s downtown and Chinatown for an hour, eating a good Chinese lunch. Afterwards, the team prepped for the upcoming tournament for the next couple of hours in the hotel, getting ready for a big day tomorrow. The tournament consisted of 6 prelamination rounds and, depending on how well a team did, there was a chance to qualify for the elimination rounds on Monday. There were about 100 teams at the tournament representing various schools across the country. In each round all of the Jesuit teams would debate one of these other teams in front of a judge, who would say who won the debate.
First Day of the Tournament
The team woke up very early at around 5:45 AM on Saturday to get ready to leave the hotel and drive to UC Berkeley campus, to compete in round 1 of the tournament.
Jesuit BP won round 1 of the tournament, and Jesuit CS lost. Afterwards, the team got a chance to explore the famous Telegraph street in Berkeley, stopping in many different shops and restaurants before round 2. The team also had the opportunity to walk around UC Berkeley’s campus, seeing famous landmarks like the Sather Gate and Sather Tower, plus getting the chance to admire some of the massive redwood trees around the campus. Then, the teams competed in rounds 2 and 3 of the tournament, with Jesuit CS winning both and Jesuit BP unfortunately losing. Nathan said that he thought that round 2 was extremely close, and, with a different judge, could have gone the other way. After these rounds, the debate team left Berkeley and returned to the hotel in Oakland for the night, getting to eat dinner at a good Haitian restaurant, a first for many on the team.
Second Day of the Tournament
Similarly to Saturday, the team had to wake up very early on Sunday to compete in the last prelamination rounds. Jesuit CS won round 4, but Jesuit BP lost.
Afterwards, the team got to roam around downtown Berkeley, and they bought pastries at an amazing Taiwanese bakery. The team also got to climb to the top of Sather tower, seeing great views of UC Berkeley, the city of Berkeley, Oakland, and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. The team then competed in rounds 5 and 6 of the tournament, where both teams won a debate and lost another. The team was then surprised by a visit from former Jesuit debater and state champion Sullivan McCormick ’11, who is in the process of becoming a Jesuit priest. After talking with him, the team ate at a delicious Korean restaurant for dinner, right off UC Berkeley campus. Unfortunately, neither team was able to make it to the elimination rounds on Monday. After dinner, the team returned to the hotel in Oakland.
Last Day and Departure
Monday was the team’s last day in California, and the team was able to sleep in a little bit more on that day. The team checked out of the hotel and then went back to UC Berkeley campus to watch the elimination rounds, and began to prepare for the upcoming state tournament.
The team walked around the campus and downtown Berkeley for the last time before departing. The team drove to SFO International airport, and were treated with good views of San Francisco, The Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz. The team boarded the plane, and landed back in DFW airport at around 11:30 PM Monday night, all of them having to return to school on the next day. Speaking about how this tournament compares with others, Nathan said that “there is just such a huge number and variety of teams from all across the country, so the competition is really unmatched.” He also said that this tournament was one of his favorite ones to travel to with the debate team, due to the unique experience of being in Berkeley and on the campus. Overall, the team had a great tournament and learned a lot that they can take with them for future debates.
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