Whitworth Forensics

A quick pause in our transition-focused posts to celebrate our spring 2026 GPA!

This spring, our collective average GPA was 3.79, reflecting our students’ deep commitment to academic excellence. Not only did over 75% of our students earn 3.75s or higher, but we also had five 4.0s—over 1/4 of the team! We are so proud of the dedication, organization, and hard work that went into this high GPA, especially amidst competing in three national tournaments.

Go bucs! 🏴‍☠️

Of course, we also have to honor our retiring head coach, Dr. Mike Ingram! This is part 1/2: the retirement party 🥳

A huge thank you to everyone who attended the alumni reunion and Coach’s retirement celebration back in April! The Arguing Bucs community is just so special. It was a wonderful weekend of catching up, reminiscing, and honoring Coach’s incredible legacy - the perfect sendoff for a man who has shaped countless lives over 38 years at Whitworth ❤️🖤

Special thanks to James Probus for capturing all these photos (and so many more)!

If you missed the party or would like to watch it again, send us a DM or email [email protected] for a link to the recording! We can also resend the Google album with all of James’s photos.

Today’s edition of “Whitworth Today” features the Arguing Bucs, including stories from our alumni about how forensics has influenced their lives! The article honors Coach Mike Ingram as he retires this spring.

Whitworth Today Magazine | Whitworth University Whitworth University’s alumni magazine is published twice a year.

The end of this season marks some big changes coming to the Arguing Bucs. We’ll share more and do some reflecting in our next few posts!

So first, we say goodbye and thank you to one of our assistant coaches, Lori Welch. Lori has coached with us for 6 years, but she judged for us for many, many more. Many of our circuit friends have probably received ballots from her!

Lori didn’t let living in Oregon stop her from giving back to team and to an activity that meant a lot to her when she was an Arguing Buc in the late 80s/early 90s. She joined practices and held coaching meetings virtually, and she joined us in-person for tournaments. Lori was always willing to run another round or listen to a speech one more time. Her dedication to helping students succeed has been such a gift to our team, as has her encouraging heart.

Although we will miss her, we are so excited for what she has in store! Lori recently earned her Master’s degree, and she is set to teach Communication courses at both Linfield and Pacific this fall. She will also be helping coach the Linfield forensics team - a great opportunity for her to work with students in-person (and with a wonderful team!).

Thank you for everything, Lori! We’ll see you at NFC tournaments next year 😊 And - you got a good one ❤️🖤

A few weeks ago, we celebrated the season at our annual end-of-year party! We shared favorite memories, honored our seniors, listened to Coach’s last end-of-the-year ADS, and became honorary Enterprise crew members. We also held a highly-anticipated tradition—Character Debate—and crowned Coach (aka SpongeBob) the champion, sending him off into retirement with one final victory 🏆

All in all, it was such a fun way to wrap up a great season together! ❤️🖤

We can’t help celebrating our seniors one more time! Riia, Minasé, Elly, and Ahmed are such a special group who have all left a significant mark on our community—it’s hard to imagine the team without them. Seniors, we love you and are SO proud of you! We will miss you, but we also can’t wait to see where life takes you next. ❤️🖤

Swipe to read about what Forensics has meant to them over the years! 🏴‍☠️

Congratulations to our newest Arguing Bucs Alumni: Minasé, Elly, Riia, and Ahmed! What an amazing journey it has been. The coaching staff is immensely proud of these four exceptional human beings, and we cannot wait to see how they will continue to change the world for better. Here are 10 highlights from the last few days of celebrating our seniors:

1️⃣ Our four seniors after graduation!
2️⃣ Seniors + coaches + teammates ❤️🖤
3️⃣ Elly’s graduation accessories 🥹
4️⃣ Coach was sick, so we brought Paper Coach to graduation!
5️⃣ Minasé & Riia winning Distinguished Collegiate Achievement Awards - one of Whitworth’s top honors for seniors!
6️⃣ Seniors with their forensics cords and senior scrapbooks 🥳
7️⃣ Ahmed’s commencement speech 🎤
8️⃣ Elly & Coach’s Senior Reflections speech 👯
9️⃣ Riia’s Senior Reflections speech 💭
🔟 Elly, Minasé, and Riia right before graduation!

We’ll share more soon, but for now, congratulations to our graduates!! 🏴‍☠️

Both of our senior Whitworth University Communication Studies Department majors won senior awards this year! Congratulations, Riia and Elly—we are SO proud of you! ❤️🖤

Another Arguing Bucs Tournament Archives post…Northwest Forensics Conference (NFC) awards!

In season-long conference standings, the Pirates won our division in speech and took 2nd in debate, culminating in our 12th golden eagle in a row. We are also very excited to share that Madalyn was the top junior competitor in the conference this season, and Ahmed was 3rd. In varsity, Minasé was 3rd as well. These awards represent lots of teamwork, practice, and hard work from each Arguing Buc, and we are so proud of everyone! ❤️🖤

What a season! 🏴‍☠️