The
WWU Debate Tradition
Western Debate has a long history on the campus.
With an established track record of success and
support Debate has been a part of Western campus
culture for a majority of the institutions history.
Western is well known in the college community,
being host to the 1991 CEDA Nationals, and Western
also hosts the William O. Douglas Speech Tournament,
honoring one of the state’s native sons.
WWU
Debate: Opportunity
Personal choices abound in the Western program:
What style of debate, what tournaments to
attend, what level of involvement you want. As
a program funded by the students of Western, the
primary goal of the program is to serve its student
participants.
WWU
Debate: Connection
College debate can be an exciting world, but it
does not exist in a vacuum. The Western program
recognizes that after your competitive experience
you should have the skills and knowledge to contribute
to society, not just compile an impressive victory
record. There is a commitment to connect the competitive
experience to personal advocacy goals, and to
create opportunities outside of the tournament
format for service and advocacy on campus and
in the community. Connection also exists on the
team, creating colleagues and friends you will
have for life, bonded together through a shared
experience and cooperation.
Competition
Background
Western Debate is focused on providing quality
educational and competitive opportunities to the
student participants of the program. Western competes
in tournaments throughout the Pacific Northwest
and nationally throughout the United States. Unlike
sports activities which are divided up into divisions
based on size, on any given weekend Western could
be competing against a university the size of
Michigan State or Texas, or a college of around
a thousand students, like Macalester. From public
to private schools, the variety of competitive
experience makes college debate a diverse and
exciting experience. Western also offers a diverse
set of events to participate in that can suit
a wide variety of interests and needs.
- Memberships and affiliations:
- American Forensic Association (AFA)
- Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA)
- National Debate Tournament (NDT)
- National Parliamentary Debate Association
(NPDA)
- Northwest Forensic Conference (NFC)
- International Debate Education Association
(IDEA)
- World Debate Organization (WDO)
- Director and 2 assistants:
- Western Debate is a co-curricular program offering
university credit in COMM236 & COMM436
- Western Debate is funded through Western Washington
University Student Fees
Parliamentary
Debate
This style of debate has no pre-set topic. Debaters
are given a resolution 15 minutes before the start
of a debate, and the Government comes up with
a case in support of the resolution, and the Opposition
negates. This is a growing style of debate popular
with schools all across the country and internationally
as well. Parli debate requires quick thinking,
a wit on ones feet, and a high level of presentation
skills for success.
Individual
Events
These are differing public performance events
ranging from limited preparation events, public
platform speaking events, and interpretive events.
For those wanting to polish their style and range
of presentation, individual events offer a chance
to refine ones skills in competition with some
of the nations finest speakers.
• Variety of Events
• High Quality Opponents
• Choice
Program Philosophy
The activity of debate is a unique opportunity
for students to exert personal control over their
intellectual development. A successful debater
is one that can think for themselves and still
be a part of the greater community of persons
and ideas and be involved in the conflicts and
agreements that exist. As a means to affirm and
develop this attribute Western’s program
will provide opportunities for students to take
part in the choices that effect their participation
and competitive experience. These decisions involve
colleague choice, tournament selection, and argument
selection. The coaches are available for consultation
and guidance on these matters, but ultimate responsibility
lies with the student. The coaches will take responsibility
for issues of team management and organization,
and make sure that the access to the privileges
of the team are based on the merit of effort.
There is a goal to operate within a framework
of consensus for squad level decisions, and to
make sure that student input and discourse are
elements in the decision making process.
• Community
• Student Choice
• Personal Responsibility
It’s
Practical
There are many good reasons for including debate
experience as part of your higher education. Employers
will look for practical skills in their employees.
Those applicants that can demonstrate and ability
to think on their feet, express complex ideas
verbally, and be able to not just identify problems,
but solve them, will be in the highest demand.
All of these skills are not just developed in
college debate, but honed to a fine level of ability.
Debate is not just a resume item. Debate is a
real and recognizable skill that employers notice.
Even in college you will notice how debate helps
you organize assignments and papers for other
classes, and the transfer of knowledge between
what you learn in debate and what you are learning
in your coursework.
It’s
Preparation
Debate is important for those considering post-graduate
education. For those considering law school, a
majority of law school deans identify debate as
an important preparation for the rigors of legal
study and practice. Those considering a graduate
education in a variety of disciplines will find
that not only does debate provide a critical preparation
in almost any discipline, but that debate experience
can translate into graduate teaching and coaching
assistantships that help cover the costs of a
masters or doctorate degree. Not to mention the
contacts that are created by interacting with
persons from all across the nation that may be
involved in the graduate program you are interested
in pursuing. Western Debate alums are lawyers,
educators, business people and activists.
Unlock
Personal Power
Debate is an important personal development tool.
The ability to think critically and interact with
the information avalanche that is the present
is a real priority. Debate will not just teach
you about ideas, but how to research and discover
ideas in an ever changing body of knowledge where
the ideas and facts are in constant flux. The
world doesn’t stop after high school, it
gets distinctly more interesting, and college
debate lets you in on it like nothing else. No
matter what you do, you will need to think about,
and know, information related to your career,
society, and causes of interest. Debate is the
key that unlocks personal power and competence.
Debate:
an Intrinsic Good
Western Debate offers a unique opportunity to
interact socially with other inquisitive minds,
not just on the campus at Bellingham, but with
peers and noted scholars from across the country.
Debate is the basis for a unique student centered
intellectual community that appreciates and rewards
individuals who think ideas are important and
that thinking is fun, not a chore to be
avoided. No other campus activity offers you the
chance to use your brain and explore ideas in
the fun and functional ways that debate can.
It’s
A Limited Time Offer
Unlike many other pursuits or interest you have,
once you graduate from college, there are no more
opportunities for structured academic debate.
After graduation you can always find some people,
or join an adult league to shoot some hoops. There
are always some people to get together and jam
with to fulfill your musical interests. There
will be plenty of reasons to get together to socialize
and have fun. But there is no more debate. College
is your last chance to take part in the thrill
and the competition in a challenging and fun academic
setting.
• Preparation for Life and Career
• Personal Development
• Refining skills for handling of information
Access to Debate: A special note
to first years and those with limited or no experience.
Western Debate strongly believes that the opportunity
to debate should be open to all that are interested.
It is a goal of the program to provide opportunity
to all that seek it and to provide an appropriate
level of competition to help them develop their
skills. In order to operationalize this goal,
the program will seek out talented students with
a successful history in high school to join the
team, but also students with little or no experience.
Those from both high profile and less competitive
squads are welcome, as well as though who may
be trying it for the first time in college. The
squad accepts the responsibility to be more than
a cooperative of already experienced participants,
but to actively recruit and train those who are
not familiar with the activity.
The program also recognizes that those with limited
experience need the same amount of competitive
opportunities to develop. In response to the recognition,
the program will employ and effort based standard
for participation over a talent based or exclusively
performance based reward system. Those students
who work hard to prepare, and make an effort at
improvement will be the students who are given
the priority to travel regardless of experience.
• Effort Based Rewards
• Opportunity Regardless of Past Experience
The primary purpose of a student’s presence
at Western is the pursuit and successful completion
of their baccalaureate degree. Th e debate program
acknowledges this priority as well. In this spirit,
Western has a standard of academic eligibility
for participation, and a "no penalty”
policy for opting out of tournaments for academic
reasons. Debaters are expected to be in good standing
and making academic progress toward graduation
to compete. This means they must be full time
students, and have a GPA above 2.0 to compete.
Students also don’t lose out on future travel
opportunities by foregoing some travel due to
tests or papers being due. Every attempt will
be made to accommodate students academics in the
scheduling of coaching and travel on an individual
basis.
Debate is also a co-curricular activity through
COMM 236 and COMM 436 offering the chance to earn
academic credit toward graduation for participation.
Additionally, most team members feel that their
participation on the debate team enhances their
education. It broadens their exposure to ideas,
and the skills learned in debate research are
directly applicable to most class assignments.
Knowing how to debate means you can research ideas,
formulate positions, and develop ideas that can
help you write papers more efficiently and process
testable knowledge more effectively.
• Academics First Philosophy
• Credit for Participation
Community
Service Component of Western Debate
In addition to competitive activities the team
is involved in service opportunities both on campus
and in the community through out the academic
year. Projects include opportunities to work with
the Seattle Debate Foundation, Urban Debate Leagues
across the country, community broadcasting projects,
on campus forums, and mentoring projects.
“Let’s
Talk” On-Campus Forums
The 2001-2002 school year saw the introduction
of the “Let’s Talk” campus discussion
series dealing with campus, national and international
issues. This forum provides a chance for students
and community members to learn more about topics
and to voice their opinions while listening to
others. Generally about 4 forums per quarter are
held on a variety of issues. Samples form the
2001-2002 academic year: the War in Iraq, Tuition
Increases, Drilling for oil in ANWR; the Mid-East
conflict.
Debate Club Co-Op Presentations
The team has an Associated Students recognized
“Debate Club” component that is available
to provide specialized presentations on topics
of interest. This past year the club presented
a pre-visit debate about the impact of Ralph Nader’s
candidacy and participated in a forum on Affirmative
Action admissions policies.
CASCAID:
Community Advocacy Support Center
The newest community service program of the team
is a chance for debaters to serve as Fellows or
Interns for a community outreach advocacy training
center. Utilizing the training of debaters to
coach community members in speaking out and participating
in the policy making process.
Women’s
Debate Institute & Bellingham Debate Cooperative
Western is proud to serve as host for these High
School programs. The Women’s Debate Institute
program helps to provide training and empowerment
for women participating in debate. The Cooperative
is a program to provide the summer institute experience
at reasonable cost to students.
Director
of Forensics, Dr. Steve Woods
Steve joins the program most recently from William
Jewell College in Liberty, MO. Steve earned his
doctorate from Florida State University in Rhetoric/Communication.
His dissertation was “The Rhetoric of the
Endangered Species Act” and looks forward
to continuing research on issues of environment
and public advocacy.
As an undergraduate Steve debated for Kansas
State University, participating in both CEDA and
NDT policy debate. After graduation, he joined
the coaching staff while earning his masters.
After four years at Florida State as a graduate
assistant he took his first full time teaching
position at the University of Vermont as a lecturer
and co-director of debate. Steve then moved on
to William Jewell College, directing the program
for five years.
Steve brings more than 20years experience in
college debate and speech to Western as both a
competitor and coach. At this point he has been
to tournaments, workshops, or conferences at 74
campuses in 25 states. Highlights include a team
in the national finals, and a top speaker while
at FSU, and three consecutive years of top twenty
finishes while at Vermont (20th, 10th, and 5th).
Steve looks forward to working with the students
of Western and working toward not only competitive
success, but development of community involvement
and public advocacy programs.
Parliamentary
Debate Coach, Paul Charles Bingham
Paul Bingham came from to Bellingham from Lewis and Clark College where he majored in International Affairs and wrote a thesis on the theoretical underpinnings of neo-conservatism and the War on Terror. Paul also coached the 2005-06 Lewis and Clark squad after competing for the squad for 4 years.
As a competitor Paul did 4 years of national circuit Policy debate in High school before debating Parli in college. Paul and his partner of 3 years, Keith West, won most tournaments across the nation at least once, making it to semi finals of NPTE and Octo-finals twice at NPDA. Paul and Keith were the top ranked team in the nation for the 2003-04 season. Paul won several top speaker awards, and finished in the top five speakers of most tournaments. Paul is one of two people (the other, Darryl Stein, was an assistant coach at Western for the 2006-07 season) to have gone to four NPTE's, and the only person who has won hardware at all of them. His senior year he debated with Meredith Price and the two of them won the NPDA National Championship.
Paul really likes teaching and coaching and will make you a better person if you let him.
Parliamentary
Debate Coach, Korry Harvey
Korry Harvey rejoins the competitive debate community
after work in the private sector as perhaps the
only known luddite director of web operations
for a nutritional products firm. The temptation
of a Northwest location and a topic involving
indigenous peoples issues proved too great, and
he departed Salt Lake for Bellingham.
Korry has debated and assisted with coaching
at Weber State University. He also was part of
an extremely successful year while debating for
the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Korry brings
a keen intelligence, and equally important, a
passion for meaningful interaction in the community.
“As a Senior I can say that debate has been
the most educational experience for me and has
helped me not only with the classes I take, but
also with my interactions with friends and co-workers.”
-Jessica, Class of 2002; started debating in College
“WWU debate is an excellent way to establish
a new and diverse community in the intellectually
challenging college atmosphere.”
–Matt, Class of 2002
“College debate is amazing. Take high school
debate and make it 100 times better, and you’re
close. What can I say? It’s awesome.”
-Dean, Class of 2005
“Debate is far more than a line in your
resume, or a way to overcome a public speaking
phobia. It’s one of the best opportunities
a student can have: to explore new ideas and new
ways of expressing them, to meet a variety of
diverse scholars, and to engage in the process
of education as both a teacher and student.”
-Amy, Class of 2002; scored in top 1% of LSAT
exam.
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