The Monmouth University Debate Team, the Debate Hawks, received seven trophies at the Western National Novice Debate Championship at Sacramento State University in Sacramento, California, on the weekend of March 911, 2012. Brandon Karkovice and Arielle Giordano made it to the semifinal playoff, which means they made it to the Final Four before losing a split decision (21) against a debate team from Cal Poly. Brandon and Arielle went 42 in the tournament before winning two playoff rounds. It was a controversial decision; had it gone the other way, Brandon and Arielle would have made it to the final round where they would have debated for the Western Conference tournament championship.