Pepperdine Waves Debate Earns First National Championship
The Pepperdine Waves Debate team recently earned its first national championship at the 2026 Social Justice Debates, where Adrielle Zindler, a Seaver College junior majoring in international studies, and Hanmo Yang, a Seaver College sophomore majoring in finance, claimed the competition’s top award.
In addition to this historic achievement, the Waves Debate team also earned a runner-up finish in the competition’s novice division, as Emily White, a Seaver College junior majoring in international studies and French, and Evelyn Wittmer, a Seaver College first-year majoring in psychology, also found success in their rhetorical approach.
“I admire every member of this debate program because these students work from a place of curiosity and desire for community rather than solely focusing on competitive success,” said Abi Smith, associate instructor of teaching in communication and the director of Pepperdine Waves Debate. “They embody the idea of valuing the process over the product, and, in a fun twist, that is what actually leads them to competitive success. Every win is a win for the whole program because these students are committed to collectively proposing and testing ideas. No idea is off-limits, no proposal is unworthy of testing, and no perspective is written off without investigation. Because of this collaborative mindset, all our individual teams have improved steadily over time.”
The Social Justice Debate Series is the only intercollegiate competition series of its kind. Each year, it invites competitors from higher education institutions across the US into a dialogue on a particular theme. In 2026 the series’ programmers focused on the topic of constitutional and legislative approaches to voting rights.
Pepperdine Waves Debate qualified for the National Championship round by first competing in events held at Rutgers University, the University of Rochester, and virtually. Throughout each of these contests, the Seaver College students distinguished themselves as some of the nation’s best rhetorical thinkers.
Beyond their team accomplishments, several Waves debaters ranked within the top 10 of the Social Justice Debate’s individual season standings. Zindler and White ranked fifth and sixth respectively in the overall competition, while Wittmer and Christopher Ballance, a Seaver College senior majoring in business administration, ranked fourth and fifth respectively in the novice category.
This level of success is not foreign to Pepperdine’s debate team. Just last year the Malibu-based competitors ranked in the top eight of the Social Justice Debate Series’ open division and in the top two in its novice division. Still, Zindler and Yang’s accomplishment resounds as a groundbreaking achievement in the history of Waves Debate.
“These young women approach debate as a process aimed at finding the best solutions rather than just ‘beating" others,’ said Smith. “Their willingness to genuinely listen, respond to feedback, and shift their own perspectives illustrates their character. At the end of the day, many people have tangible debate skills, but it is truly the character of these two young women, their willingness to be humble and listen, that sets them apart.”
The Pepperdine Waves Debate team is a co-curricular program housed in the Communication Division of Seaver College. It serves as an experiential learning opportunity that helps students develop their public speaking and discourse abilities.
Following the success of the Social Justice Debates, Pepperdine’s team will now take part in the Trans-Atlantic Dialogues, a three-part, international competitive series that will eventually take the Seaver College cohort to Paris, France. Throughout this next competition, students will be paired with expert mentors who either serve in the French military or craft policies for the European nation. This unique partnership is meant to further enhance each students’ rhetorical skills in advance of the contest.
Learn more about Waves Debate.