Western Debate Union

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)

 

Debate and Academics 

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