Junior Andrew Cerise and senior Mako Giordano became only the second Public Forum team in Jesuit’s history to qualify to the TOC.

Jesuit debaters made history at the Southwest Speech and Debate Institute Tournament in Phoenix, Az., March 6-7, 2015. The Public Forum team of senior Mako Giordano and junior Andrew Cerise had a stellar tournament, advancing to the final round and finishing in second place. Giordano won the second place speaker award at the tournament as well.

By reaching finals, the team earned their second bid to the National Tournament of Champions (TOC), the most prestigious high school debate tournament in the country. The TOC, hosted annually at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, requires a team to earn two qualifying bids in order to compete. Cerise and Giordano earned their first bid of the year by winning the Holy Cross tournament in New Orleans on Oct. 4, 2015. Cerise and Giordano are Jesuit ‘s second only Public Forum team to every qualify to the TOC. In 2012, the team of Logan Williams ’12 and Ryan Mouton ’13 became the first Jesuit team to qualify. Qualifying to the TOC is a signature achievement for debaters and places them among the elite teams in the country.