Luke competed in Stoa high school policy debate and parliamentary debate for 4 years. Luke took second place in the final team policy debate round with his partner Aiden Gilmore at NITOC (the National Invitational Tournament of Champions) in both 2012 and 2013. In 2013, Luke also won the top speaker award for team policy debate. After high school, Luke did 4 years of college NPDA debate, first at Irvine Valley College and then for 3 years at Concordia University Irvine. Luke graduated CUI in spring of 2017 with a degree in economics and is now a licensed insurance agent at Tague Alliance. He is studying for the LSAT and intends to go to law school in fall of 2019.
Philosophy:
Debate is an academic challenge which strengthens critical thinking and facilitates a holistic education. In a Christian context, the purpose of debate is to empower students to defend Scripture, spread the Gospel, and positively change the world. In an American context, debate enables every citizen to be better informed on public policy issues and to make responsible choices for government leaders. As such, the Christian debater has a responsibility to speak Truth and combat lies in every walk of life.
Accomplishments:
- 2nd Place NITOC Team Policy Champion in 2012 & 2013
- 1st Place Team Policy Speaker 2013
- Gold in NPDA parliamentary debate at Phi Rho Pi for Irvine Valley College 2014
- 1st Place at Jannese Davidson NPDA tournament, 2016
- NPDA Semi-finalist at Sunset Cliffs Pt Loma, 2017
- NPDA All American Debater Award, 2017
- Graduated Concordia University Irvine with a B.A in Economics and the Senior Award for Economics (awarded for top economics student), 2017