Westeryears: Oxford Proves No Match for Blue Jay Debaters of ’25

In 1925, Westminster saw its most successful debate team yet. In its 75th year, the team, led by faculty advisors Dr. J.B. Reevers and Professor Franc L. McCluer, included Albert Kissling, Raymond Kroggel, Kenneth Lineberry, George Sweazey, William Haley, Frank Williams, Morton Cunningham, Clay Davis, William Teuscher, Max Farrington, K.W. Brown, and Eugene Abbott. 

The 1925 debate team.

Out of the season’s 16 debates, the team gained national recognition with nine victories, three no-decision debates, and no defeats. 

One of these successes came against England’s Oxford University in the first debate of the season, where Kissling, Lineberry, and Kroggel represented Westminster. The men combated the rather humorous, loosely-structured arguments of the Oxford debaters with adaptability and humor of their own, ushering in a final vote of 976-426 — a resounding Blue Jay victory.