Alumnus Debater Hired At Bethany CollegeJune 4, 2003 James Stewart, a 2000 graduate of Northwest University, recently received a full time tenure track contract to teach communication courses at Bethany College in Scotts Valley, California. He will serve with the rank of Assistant Professor. Part of his duties will be to coach the debate team. At Northwest he was recognized as the Outstanding English Major by the faculty in May 2000. He was also known as a star debater, helping the team rank tenth in the nation in the 300 member National Parliamentary Debate Association that year. During his undergraduate experience, Stewart attended tournaments in seven states and six nations, including Athens, Greece; Sydney, Australia; England; Scotland; Portugal and British Columbia, Canada. After a national search, he was one of two students in the nation chosen for the United States Debate Team by a panel of the National Communication Association. He represented the U.S. on a European tour in the Spring of 1999. At the England and Whales tournament, he and his partner placed above all seven teams from Oxford University. He also ranked among the top seven best speakers out of more than 200 at a tournament in Scotland. At the World Universities Debating Championship in Athens, Greece in 1998, he was the only American to make finals in public speaking -- an individual speaking contest that went on between debates. While at Northwest University he debated more than 250 times and won more than 20 top awards, including first place at the University of British Columbia's Pacific Cup and first place two years in a row at Portland Community College. He reached final rounds at the national tournament in 1999. Stewart graduated with an Master's Degree in English from Western Washington University in May 2004, where he served as fiction editor for the Bellingham Review -- a well known literary journal -- and as a teacher's assistant in English courses. At Bethany this fall, Stewart will be teaching Public Speaking, Debate, Ethics in Mass Communications, Writing for the Media as well as serving as debate coach.
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