Wake Forest students win ACC Debate Championship
Wake Forest University sophomores Destiny Hale and Hanna Shakarov won the 2025 ACC Debate Championship by defeating Southern Methodist University in the tournament’s final round on April 27 in Washington, D.C.
Hale, a computer science major from Jefferson, Georgia, was voted the tournament’s top speaker. Shakarov, a business and enterprise management major from Alpine, New Jersey, was voted the second overall speaker. Wake Forest was undefeated in the preliminary debates with wins over UNC, Florida State, Miami and Notre Dame.
The topic for the debate was “Resolved: Washington D.C. should be granted statehood.”
“Destiny and Hanna were able to meld together arguments from economics, political science, sociology and communication studies to beat a very talented team from SMU,” said Jarrod Atchison, the John Medica Director of Debate at Wake Forest. “The win reflects one of the core strengths of Wake Forest Debate, which benefits greatly from our University’s commitment to engaged liberal arts that defy academic silos and helps prepare our students to debate extremely complicated topics.”
The debaters credited their success to well-researched arguments, excellent coaching and teamwork.
“I really enjoy the research and strategy side,” Hale said. “On the car ride to the tournament, we spent hours thinking through different possibilities and planning out strategies.”
Shakarov said, “Our championship would’ve been impossible without the unwavering support from our coaches, Justin Green and Jarrod Atchison. Destiny and I were very much on the same wavelength, which made the debates not only easier but also very fun. Winning the ACC, especially given the skill and experience of our opponents, was extremely validating.”
This win represents Wake Forest’s fifteenth ACC Debate Championship victory. The tournament, which dates back to the 1950s, was revived in 2015 as part of the ACC Academic Consortium.
Learn more about Wake Debate.
Categories: Awards & Recognition, Uncategorized
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