Have you ever been kept out of something just because of who you are? For the debaters of Wiley College in the 1930s, that was real life. Texas House Resolution 1609 tells that story and honors the school’s debate team. A movie, a $1 million gift, and a group of young students helped open a closed door to a national title.
A team that wasn’t allowed in
Wiley College was founded in 1873 in Marshall, Texas, by the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Wiley is a historically Black college. Melvin B. Tolson came to the school in 1924 and built its debate team. His team was not allowed to join Pi Kappa Delta, a national forensics fraternity. But his debaters didn’t stop. They continued to compete and prove themselves.
In 1935, Wiley defeated the University of Southern California, that year’s Pi Kappa Delta national champion, in a debate. The school’s About Wiley University page lists the 1935 victory as the subject of the film The Great Debaters. The team broke up when Tolson left in 1947. The story went quiet for a long time.
A movie and a million-dollar gift
About 60 years later, people became interested in the team again. Actor Denzel Washington directed and starred in The Great Debaters. The film, released on December 25, 2007, captured the legacy of four former students: Hobart Jarrett, Henry Heights, James Farmer Jr., and Henrietta Bell Wells, according to the About Wiley University page.
That same year, Washington announced a $1 million commitment to Wiley to revive its debate team, paid at $100,000 a year over a decade. The school’s history page notes the commitment was made during the time of Haywood L. Strickland as president. The school says the team was later named after both Tolson and Washington. Texas House Resolution 1609 also notes that Washington later donated $1 million to the college. A new team needs members, coaches, and lots of practice before anyone can talk about trophies.
Seven years later, a national title
In March 2014, the revived team won the Pi Kappa Delta Comprehensive National Tournament. That was seven years after the 2007 commitment. The resolution says the team consisted of 23 first- and second-year students. They went up against debaters from 80 colleges and universities at the largest Pi Kappa Delta tournament ever conducted.
With 60 awards, Wiley came in first place, according to the resolution. That finish capped a season that included 373 tournament wins and several exhibition debates. There is a slight irony in all of this. Pi Kappa Delta was the same group that had initially barred Tolson’s team. Winning its biggest contest is a long way from being turned away. The resolution says the win deserved special recognition, and it was a big moment for the school. The team later won the Pi Kappa Delta overall sweepstakes title again, in 2016.
What this story tells us
It’s easy to read a story like this and assume the donation was the whole story. The record shows more than that. The gift helped bring the team together again. But it was young students who did the hard work of preparing, speaking, and winning. The resolution also recognizes the leadership of Coach Chris Medina during the 2014 season.
A gift can start a program, but people have to sustain it. Debating needs courage because students have to stand up and speak while others judge them. The story also shows that history can be mended, at least to a certain point. Wiley’s debaters were shut out by a group that later watched them take first place. Today, the school is called Wiley University. The lesson is simple for anyone who has been counted out. A closed door doesn’t have to be the end of your story.