This past week, two Charlotte Latin seniors — Natalie Berman ’26 and Divija Rao ’26 — returned from the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Richmond, VA, as national champions. Matching up against 197 forensics teams from seven countries, they competed in 13 rounds before capturing the prestigious title.

Five Latin students qualified to compete at Nationals this year in three different events: Margaret Odhiambo ’28 in informative speaking; Sita Sagunarthy ’28 in dramatic interpretation; and Lilly Berkovich ’27, Berman, and Rao in world schools debate. Latin debate coaches Bilal Butt (Director of Speech & Debate) and Megan Butt (Assistant Director of Speech & Debate) coached the ten Charlotte students who competed on two district teams (along with Lynne Coyne from Myers Park High School), as they have done for the past decade. “Under Megan’s leadership the teams have consistently excelled,” Bilal Butt said. “We have an application process that is highly selective and accept only the ten best debaters.”

Students from Charlotte Latin, Myers Park, Ardrey Kell High School, and Marvin Ridge High School were divided into two squads, Carolina West Gold and Carolina West Green. While Carolina West Gold won the tournament, Carolina West Green also excelled, placing in the top 32. “The wins were sweet, and watching the students be recognized onstage was incredible, but the most memorable part was seeing how students from four different schools, who compete as rivals throughout the season, came together as a community,” Butt said. “They bonded over their shared love for the activity — and spent the Sunday before competition began painting each other’s nails to match each team’s colors. The kids asked the coaches to also paint their nails, so we did too! I layered green and gold on top of each other to ensure both teams were represented.”

The world schools debate format is unusual in that it alternates between prepared topics and impromptu topics. For some rounds, students are provided the topic one hour before debating in front of a judge, and have to prepare using only a dictionary and an almanac (no computers allowed). Topics of debate in Richmond included the merits of a federal jobs guarantee, whether adult children have a moral obligation to care for aging parents, the banning of prediction markets, DC statehood, and the decline of United States hegemony. Three of five team members participate in each round, with a strong emphasis on collaboration: the individual debaters must execute a common strategy. After Carolina West Green was eliminated in the double octafinal round, the members rallied around Carolina West Gold, Butt reported, “staying up late to help them perfect their cases.”

While Latin debaters don’t typically compete in this format, they prepare in it specifically for this tournament (and the Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky, where Berman and Rao earned top-eight finishes as sophomores). The team members had been readying themselves since April, putting in over 60 hours of preparation that extended into summer vacation with practice rounds, skills drills, and topic lectures. Butt said, “We have been building these skills in our students over the last four years. This result is the culmination of the dedication, hard work, countless hours, and deep care our students have for the activity.”

Dating back to 2017, Bilal and Megan Butt had coached eight different teams to the quarterfinals round. “We knew what it was like to have kids who are so deserving, get so close, and still not quite end the way you want,” Butt reflected. “Wanting it badly sometimes isn’t enough. But success once is an accomplishment. Success again is a standard.”