Blogs

In the past 3 decades, Bill Southworth has conducted a survey of coaches and judges active throughout the decade.  Here are the results of his poll for the past decade.

Debaters from universities across the Northeast gathered all day Saturday and Sunday to compete in Binghamton University's Regional Debate Tournament.

Members of the Glenn R. Capp Debate Forum, Baylor University's nationally ranked debate team, captured the District 3 championship over the weekend, with senior debater Alex McVey earning recognition as tournament's top individual speaker.

When Dylan Quigley was a freshman in high school, he joined the debate team to prepare for a career in politics. His career choice has since changed, but Quigley is still debating.

The Missouri State University debate team is one of only 16 two-person teams nationwide to earn a first round at-large bid to the 2010 National Debate Tournament, MSU said today.

-Roadrunner debaters had a great holiday break, competing in two back-to-back tournaments at the University of North Texas (Denton) and UT Dallas. By the end of six days of debate, UTSA was ranked sixth in the nation among more than 250 college and university debate teams.

Baltimore Sun

Gov. Martin O'Malley said Tuesday that it would be "ludicrous" for Towson University to cut funding for its highly successful debate program because of overall cuts to the state university system.

The Tower Light

Because of uncertain funding, the Speech and Debate Team will soon be seeing a number of changes in their group.

Baltimore Sun

Towson University debaters have always been a scrappy bunch compared to their rivals from Harvard, Wake Forest and Northwestern.

KoamTV

University of Kansas officials say budget problems might prevent the university's national championship debate squad from competing against other top teams.

Chicago Sun Times

They called him "The Duck." As I reeled from the shock of the untimely death of my good friend Scott Deatherage, that was the biggest surprise.

The Duck?! I had never heard that until I began reading the hundreds of e-mails, texts, and Facebook missives spreading the news that Scott was gone.

CEDA Debate

I am sorry to pass along the very sad news that Scott Deatherage, the longtime Northwestern Director of Debate, was rushed to the hospital last night in Chicago. His condition is very grave and he remains in the ICU.  His family is with him and they have asked to pass this information along. 

At this time of year please keep our Northwestern friends in your thoughts and prayers.

Gordon Stables

The UR Debate Union has its roots in the early days of the University — it was founded the day before the school was even created in 1850.  More than 150 years later, the team is thriving, complete with new coaches, members and victories.


“One major accomplishment we’ve had is winning the University of Vermont Tournament,” publicity manager and sophomore Nicholas Stevens. The club brought about 40 debaters to the Vermont, the largest group they’ve ever taken to a tournament.
The club has grown this year, as they were actually able to retain the crowd that packed the room at this year’s General Interest meeting. More members and new coaches have helped the team’s success.

Global Debate

Dec. 7, 2009 -- University of Wyoming debate coach and Director of Forensics Matt Stannard will teach at the Iraq Debate Academy and Mesopotamia Debating Tournament Dec. 13-17 in Duhok, Kurdistan, Republic of Iraq.

He is among eight faculty members selected to teach at the workshop, including debate scholars and coaches from Slovenia, Wales, Iraq and the United States.

Cornell Sun

The Forensics Society, an organization where students participate in intercollegiate debate competitions, was recently moved from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to the College of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Scholarship Opportunities for Policy Debaters at Western Connecticut State University

Western Connecticut State University’s Roger Sherman Debate Society is pleased to announce that we are offering a very limited number of full tuition scholarships for policy debate through the University’s Honors Program.   WCSU has a competitive debate environment within the Northeast providing both regional and national travel schedules for competition.

CJ Online

MANHATTAN -- A Kansas State University student from Topeka and his debate partner are ranked 21st in the nation on the university's team, which is ranked ninth nationwide based on a poll of coaches from across the country.

Derek Ziegler, of Topeka, and Elizabeth Mendenhall, of Olathe, have had multiple top-10 finishes, including placing ninth among 145 teams at the University of Kentucky tournament. It was the highest finish by a K-State pair at a national-caliber tournament in the current varsity season.

The UCA Debate Team will host a regional debate tournament on campus March 13-15.

The tournament will be headquartered in Thompson Hall, along with some in Irby Hall. At least six other schools from Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas have committed to attend the tournament. This is the first debate that will be held on the campus after the team's re-organization last year.

News Times

Some of the best students from the Northeast will showcase their research and argue the U.S. nuclear weapons policy in a two-day event in Danbury this weekend.

Western Connecticut State University's award-winning Roger Sherman Debate Society will play host to and compete against 21 visiting college teams in Warner Hall on the university's midtown campus.

From the Northwestern Debate Society’s success at tournaments this fall and its continued efforts to recruit top high school debaters, team coach Dan Fitzmier said the tradition of NU’s debate excellence doesn't appear to be ending.

NU debate won its first tournament of the year at Gonzaga University in September and closed out the Wayne State University Motor City Classic College Debate tournament in October. Debate Society program coordinator Luke Hill said teams of debaters also placed at tournaments held at Georgia State University, the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Kentucky. Fitzmier said the team’s performance since September has been “fantastic.”

The Crimson

The Harvard Policy Debate Team was founded over a century ago, but they’re still pushing boundaries today.

By MARK J. CHIUSANO, Crimson Staff Writer


The Harvard Policy Debate Team, originally called the Harvard Debate Council, was founded in 1892. This was the year the Johnson County War erupted between small farmers and large ranchers in Wyoming, and the year Homer Plessy sat in the wrong seat on a train and prompted a landmark Supreme Court case. These are things that debaters might know because they can never tell when their opponents will bring up the way mass media affected rebellions in the West, or why the Supreme Court isn’t a reliable source for expanding nuclear disarmament.

Baylor

Baylor's debate team is currently ranked fifth in the nation and is excited for a successful season and hopeful for a national championship.

"We are currently ranked highest since 1997," said Dr. Matt Gerber, director of the debate team and assistant professor in the communications department.

University of Wyoming News

Sept. 3, 2009 -- A University of Wyoming policy debate team has been invited to the prestigious Las Vegas Round Robin tournament scheduled Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

New York Times

At the time, the South was riven by racial strife, and during a college debate trip to Texas, Mr. Olson got his first close-up view of blatant discrimination. Lady Booth Olson, a lawyer whom Mr. Olson married in 2006, said he still tears up when telling how a black teammate was turned away from a restaurant in Amarillo. Mr. Olson “tore into the owner,” insisting the team would not eat unless everyone was served, recalled the team’s coach, Paul Winters. “If he sees something that is wrong in his mind, he goes after it,” Mr. Winters said.

Tanesha Slaughter, a member of Fayetteville State University's debate team, will debate five other students as part of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities on Aug. 31. Presidents and chancellors from HBCUs nationwide will attend the event.