Several hundred of the nation’s top college debate teams from dozens of universities will fill Vanderbilt University campus March 6-8 to determine the winner of the American Debate Association (ADA) 2010 National Championship Debate Tournament.
The two-person teams will debate “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reduce the size of its nuclear weapons arsenal, and/or substantially reduce and restrict the role and/or missions of its nuclear weapons arsenal.”
Each school can enter any number of two-person teams. Each team debates six preliminary rounds. Based on win/loss records and individual debater speaker points, the best teams advance to the elimination rounds. The elimination rounds in all three divisions – varsity, junior varsity and novice – are set up as a seeded single elimination tournament.
The elimination rounds begin at 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 7, and continue at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 8. The elimination rounds will be held in Calhoun Hall. All debate sessions are free and open to the public.
“Getting to host a national title on campus is very exciting for us,” said Mary Lynn Sandoz, director of debate at Vanderbilt. “The squad has had noticeable successes in the past few seasons.”
The Vanderbilt debate squad travels to between 12 and 14 competitions each academic year. In 2009, the Vanderbilt Team of Cameron Norris and Nick Brown were the second-place varsity team the ADA Championship and the program overall was recognized as seventh in the nation.
Additionally, Cameron Norris of Vanderbilt has been nominated for the 2010 Julia Burke Award, given out annually at the ADA Championship to recognize the college policy debater who exhibits excellence in and passion for debate, a commitment to helping others, love and respect for the ADA policy debate community and dedication to maintaining friendships despite the pressures of competition. The award includes an individual trophy and a $1,000 donation to the charity chosen by the award recipient.
The American Debate Association promotes intercollegiate policy debate and provides national awards for achievements in policy debate. The ADA has sponsored national championship tournaments for more than 20 years. In addition to the national championship, the ADA presents awards to debate squads at colleges and universities based on competitive success throughout the entire debate season. These awards are called sweepstakes awards. The ADA is the only policy debate organization that provides a national championship tournament that includes all three levels of debate: varsity, junior varsity and novice.
Media Contact: Missy Pankake, (615) 322-NEWS
missy.pankake@vanderbilt.edu