USA Debate
About USA Debate
Since 2013, the National Speech & Debate Association has assumed responsibility for the USA Debate Team, choosing the best debaters in the country to represent the United States in international competition.
Team USA features a highly accomplished and dedicated coaching staff. These coaches have deep roots in the content and style of World Schools Debate and work with the team to acclimate the debaters to the event.
The mission of USA Debate is to join the global promotion of free and civil discourse, foster international cooperation and education, as well as demonstrate competitive excellence and national pride.
Team Info
More Information
Apply to be a Member of the USA Debate Team
The information below includes dates for the 2022-23 application process.
Eligible applicants are citizens (dual citizenship acceptable) or students who have obtained permanent residence status for a minimum of two years. Per WSDC rules, all applicants must be current residents of the United States who will be attending a secondary diploma-granting institution, are no younger than 14 years of age, and have not reached their 20th birthday in July 2022. Candidates must also be current and active student members of the NSDA at an active member school.
April 27- Stage One application opens.
Students submit required data using an online form, upload coach/administrator recommendations, and record a video on the motion provided below. (Download a PDF of the Stage One application. We recommend that you draft your responses in a separate document to copy over when you are ready to submit. The form will not autosave throughout).
Stage One Video Task
Please upload a speech of no more than five minutes (including intro/framing/ONE argument/conclusion) responding to the motion:
This House would remove all patents on essential medical technology.
Students may choose side Proposition or Opposition. The argument may be one that would be presented in either the first or second speech. Please identify which speech and argument you are presenting before beginning the speech (ex. “P2 – third argument”).
Here are some helpful tips about creating an unlisted YouTube video.
June 1 – Stage One application deadline. The online form closes at 11:59 p.m. CT.
June 23 – Auto-qualifiers in WS, USX, IX, Congress, LD, PF, and Policy are invited to apply as part of Stage One. No video task is required for auto-qualifiers. However, they must upload coach/administrator recommendations as part of the application. (Download a PDF of the Stage One application. We recommend that you draft your responses in a separate document to copy over when you are ready to submit. The form will not autosave throughout).
(Note: The link to the online application form will be emailed to eligible auto-qualifiers.)
Applicants will be notified of additional video tasks and questions via email throughout the process in July/August.
August – USA Debate national team announced
Please email info@speechanddebate.org with specific questions.
The USA Debate Team represents the diversity of our nation. The National Speech & Debate Association wants to ensure all students have full access to the opportunities available as they compete for USA Debate, without being limited by individual economic circumstances. Thanks to a variety of supporters like you, the students on the team are given the educational experience of a lifetime. Your tax-deductible gift allows the U.S. to continue to showcase the best and brightest young people to the rest of the world.
If you or your company would like more information about becoming an official sponsor of USA Debate, please contact us.
Sponsorship levels include:
- Competition supplies and materials for one debater
- Training sessions with the USA Debate coaches
- International competition for one student on the team
- World Championship for one student on the team
- International competition for entire USA Debate Team
- World Championship season for entire USA Debate Team
Thank You!
The Lanier Law Firm is an official sponsor of the USA Debate Team.
Thank You to Our Generous Supporters
Tom Rollins
Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett, PC
Thank You!
Throughout the school year, The Blake School (Minnesota), Greenhill School (Texas), Harvard-Westlake School (California), Taipei American School (Taiwan), and Holy Cross School (Louisiana) provide invaluable training opportunities for the USA Debate Team. Thank you for your support!
2021-2022 National Team
Jane Grey Battle
Senior – Mountain Brook High School – Alabama
Jane Grey serves as the captain of the Mountain Brook High School debate team and competes primarily in Public Forum. She is a three-time Alabama state champion and three-time Deep South District champion. Jane Grey cleared to quarterfinals at NSDA Nationals and is currently ranked #7 in the country for Public Forum. She has been selected to compete at the Ivy Street, Blake, and Magic City Round Robins. Jane Grey volunteers for SpeakFirst, creates and teaches online elementary debate courses, and leads local debate camps in her community. Outside of debate, Jane Grey works on various political campaigns, loves to cook, and recently earned her Seal of Biliteracy in French. She is the founder of Young Voters for a Better Alabama, a non-partisan youth coalition, which supports candidates and legislation. She is excited to represent the USA Debate team this year!
Kate Drum
Senior – Polytechnic School – California
Kate has been involved in debate for six years, primarily in World Schools and Parliamentary formats. She currently serves as captain of her school team. In World Schools Debate, Kate championed and placed top speaker at the Damus Hollywood Invitational and reached out rounds at tournaments including NSDA Nationals, Harvard, Greenhill, and Coppell (top speaker), among others. In Parliamentary Debate, she championed tournaments including the SCDL State Tournament and Damien (top speaker), along with making out rounds at tournaments including Cal Invitational, University of Oregon, and Peninsula (second speaker). In addition to competing herself, Kate coaches and manages the middle school debate team at the McKinley School (PUSD) in Pasadena and co-founded the organization Girls Who Debate. Outside of debate, Kate serves as associated student body president of her school and on the Judiciary Council. She is president of her school’s Model United Nations team, captain of the Ethics Bowl team, and chief copy editor of Poly’s newspaper, the Paw Print. She also works with the United Nations Association (UNA) as the National High School Campus Fellow, president of her school’s UNA chapter, and board member of the UNA-Pasadena chapter. In her free time, Kate enjoys playing on her varsity tennis team and spending time with friends and family. Kate is incredibly grateful to be a part of the team and is looking forward to an amazing year with USA Debate!
Hannah Heeger
Senior – Millennium High School – New York
Hannah has been involved in speech and debate for six years. She has competed on behalf of the USA Debate development team for the past three years, during which she was the top speaker at the EurOpean tournament and The Delores Arthur Taylor School Invitational (reaching quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively). She championed the Bluebonnet Invitational, reached finals at Blake twice, and reached quarterfinals at the Harvard World Schools tournament. She also reached quarterfinals with her district team at the 2021 NSDA National Tournament in World Schools. Additionally, she competes in Congressional Debate, in which she has reached semifinal rounds at ASU and Bronx, and reached finals at Columbia and Princeton (also earning a bid to the TOC). She enjoys helping coach and judge local middle school debates. Outside of debate, Hannah volunteers with the Neighborhood Defense Service of Harlem, a public defense practice. She loves creative writing and is an editor for her school’s literary magazine, FLUX, and has helped lead writing workshops for younger students with Writopia Labs. In her free time, you will find her exploring the city for new places to eat, baking, or rewatching Grey’s Anatomy.
Cameron Kettles
Senior – Greenhill School – Texas
Cameron is returning to USA Debate for the second year and has been involved in debate for seven years, competing primarily in World Schools Debate. As a member of the 2019-2020 USA Debate development team, the 2020-2021 national team, and her school team, she reached octafinals of the World Schools Debating Championships and championed NSDA Nationals, NDCA, Hockaday, Isidore Newman, University of Texas Tournament, and The Delores Taylor Arthur School Invitational twice. She reached the semifinal round at Harvard and the World Holiday Open and top-spoke the TFA State tournament. Outside debate, she serves as the executive content editor of her school paper, The Evergreen, and is an active member of her school’s Project Dialogue Club and Political Action Club. In her free time, she enjoys backpacking, drinking coffee, reading about cargo ships specifically, and playing with with her dog, Blue. Cameron is excited for another amazing year with USA Debate!
Jennifer Lin
Senior – Richard Montgomery High School – Maryland
Jennifer has been involved in debate throughout high school, and she captains her team at Richard Montgomery and the Potomac Debate Academy. She competes in Public Forum and World Schools. In Public Forum, she championed the NSDA National Tournament and accumulated nine bids to the Tournament of Champions in her junior year. Notably, she reached numerous semifinal and final rounds at Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Georgetown, and several round robins. She was also ranked first speaker at Emory as well as second speaker at Georgetown and the Mid-America Cup. In World Schools, she competed with the USA Debate development team during the 2020-2021 season. While debating for the development team, she finaled at the Greenhill Classic and was first seed and tenth speaker at the International World Schools Debate Tournament Ljutomer. Jennifer also enjoys volunteering as a coach and judge for younger debaters. Outside of debate, she is a member of her school’s mock trial team, which reached finals at the state championship. She is also involved with Student Government, the World Affairs Council, and other clubs and organizations. In her free time, she likes hiking, listening to podcasts, watching Netflix, and spending time with friends and family. Jennifer is incredibly grateful and excited to compete with USA Debate!
Vinayak Menon
Junior – Lambert High School – Georgia
Vinayak has been involved in debate throughout his high school career, competing in Public Forum and Worlds Schools Debate. In his two years of Public Forum, he has qualified to the Tournament of Champions twice, championed the James Logan and Peach State Tournament, and ranked fourth speaker at the University of Pennsylvania Tournament. As a member of the USA Debate development team, he has reached quarterfinals at the Harvard College Worlds Schools Invitational and semifinals at the Greenhill and Blake Tournament. Vinayak is also actively involved in speech, in which he championed Georgia’s American Legion Oratorical Contest and State Optimist Oratorical Contest. Outside of speech and debate, he serves as the Youth Sector Leader for the Forsyth County Drug Awareness Council, in which he has spread awareness about the opioid crisis to elected officials and developed a campaign to provide thousands of families with proper drug disposal resources. Vinayak also frequently writes articles in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and founded the Board of Commissioners’ Youth Council in his county. In his free time, he loves to listen to music, keep up with politics, and spend time with friends and family. Vinayak is incredibly honored and excited to be a part of the USA Debate team this year!
Ashley Shan
Senior – Greenhill School – Texas
Ashley is a returning member of the USA Debate team and has been involved in speech and debate since her freshman year, primarily competing in World Schools Debate. She has championed World Schools at NSDA Nationals, NDCA Nationals, the Stanford Invitational, the Greenhill Fall Classic, The Delores Taylor Arthur School Invitational, and the UT Longhorn Classic. She’s also placed second at Harvard-Westlake and TFA State, as well as reached semifinals at the Winter Holiday Open in Zagreb. Outside of debate, Ashley is the president of her school’s East Asian Affinity Group, Model United Nations team, Project Dialogue Club, and Political Action Club, as well as an avid photographer (both film and digital). When she isn’t debating, Ashley enjoys writing articles, participating as a representative of the Dallas Youth Commission and Human Rights Commission, and volunteering as a judge at local middle school tournaments to encourage youth advocacy. In her free time, Ashley enjoys exploring local cafés, playing with her two cats, and spending time with family. Ashley is incredibly honored to represent the United States in the activity that has given her a voice and is looking forward to another great year with USA Debate!
Victor Tong
Senior – Phillips Academy – Massachusetts
As a rising senior and the co-captain of Phillips Academy’s debate team, Victor has competed in World Schools Debate for six years. He was also a member of the USA Debate development team the past three years. His achievements include placing third at the 2021 NSDA National Tournament in World Schools Debate, second at the 2021 King Round Robin, first at the 2019 Bluebonnet World Schools Debate International Tournament (third top speaker), and first at the Blake Tournament. He reached the quarterfinal round twice at the European Tournament (placing as third top speaker in 2020) and finished twice as a quarterfinalist at the Harvard College World Schools Invitational. He has reached elimination rounds at Stanford Invitational, Greenhill Invitational, Isidore Newman Tournament, Semiahmoo Invitational, and The Delores Taylor Arthur Invitational. Outside of debate, Victor is a member of his school’s Varsity Crew and Varsity Nordic skiing teams, a board member of his school’s Save the Children Club, and a Residential Advisor for his dorm on campus. In his spare time, Victor loves playing basketball and spending time with his friends. Victor is looking forward to an incredible year with USA Debate!
Miles Wang
Senior – A. W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts – Florida
Miles is returning to his third year with the USA Debate team and competes primarily in World Schools Debate. His competitive accomplishments include reaching octafinals at the 2021 World Schools Debating Championships, third at the Winter Holiday Open in Zagreb two times (second and eighth speaker, respectively), first at the Stanford Debate Invitational, Blake, and Harvard-Westlake tournament, and second at the Greenhill Fall Classic (top speaker). In Congressional Debate, he placed third at the Blue Key Invitational among other out rounds. As president of his school’s speech and debate team, he has led teams to third place at NSDA Nationals (having placed third the year prior) and first place twice at the Florida Varsity State Tournament. Outside of debate, he enjoys writing articles as an editor of his school’s newspaper, leads several clubs, and is a student attorney for PBC Youth Court. In his free time, Miles enjoys reading science fiction books, listening to music, and spending time with family and friends. He is looking forward to the upcoming year with USA Debate!
Abbey Xu
Senior – St. Paul’s School – New Hampshire
Abbey is returning for her third year with USA Debate. She has been actively participating in speech and debate since middle school, competing in primarily World Schools and Parliamentary formats. In World Schools, she represented USA Debate at the 2021 Macau Online WSDC, placing 13th overall and third in the Hegel division as an individual speaker. In addition, she was a finalist at NSDA Nationals as a ninth grader in 2019, and a semifinalist in 2021. Abbey has championed the World Schools division at the Stanford Invitational, the Greenhill Fall Classic and Harvard-Westlake. She also broke into semifinals at the Winter Holiday Open and the Harvard College World Schools Invitational in 2021. In addition to co-captaining her school’s Parliamentary Debate team, Abbey is a four-year member of her school’s varsity volleyball team, leads the Justice and Social Equality for Asians club and serves as a chair on the Student Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council. In her free time, she enjoys perfecting her Pinterest boards, crocheting fun projects, and reading. She is beyond excited for another great year with USA Debate!
Leadership Team
Aaron Timmons
Co-Head Coach from Greenhill School in Addison, Texas
Aaron Timmons is the Director of Debate at Greenhill School in Addison, Texas. He is a lifelong educator and in 2000 was named one of the “top debate coaches of the 20th century” by the National Speech & Debate Association. Aaron has coached multiple state and national champions in both Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate, in addition to a National Public Policy Forum Champion. Aaron is one of three coaches with champions in Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate and is the only coach in history to have multiple winners in each event. He has taught and/or directed debate workshops and trainings at Harvard University, Stanford University, Northwestern University, and the University of North Texas, among others. Aaron is also the co-founder of the Global Debate Symposium, held at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He is a member of the National Speech & Debate Association Hall of Fame, Tournament of Champions, and the Texas Forensic Association.
Cynthia Timmons
Team Manager and Co-Head Coach from Greenhill School in Addison, Texas
Cynthia Timmons lives in Dallas, Texas, and has been involved in debate for more than 40 years. Retired from 30 years in public schools where she coached dozens of national and state champions while winning numerous coaching awards, she has also served the speech and debate community in national and state leadership positions, in professional development training, and in summer institute work. In addition to serving as Co-Head Coach, Cindi is also the Team Manager. She is a member of the National Speech & Debate Association Hall of Fame as well as the Texas Forensic Association Hall of Fame. She is actively engaged in promoting the cause of women in debate and teacher professional development. Internationally, Cindi is an elected board member of WSDC, Ltd. and a two-term member of the WSDC Tournament Executive Committee. She has also served the international community on the Motions Committee for 2015. Having previously hosted three National Speech & Debate Tournaments in Dallas, she is preparing to host the best of the United States again in 2019. In her spare time, she loves reading and writing. Most importantly, she is a wife and the mother of two.
Read “Exploring Cultural Competence in the World Schools Debate Community” by USA Debate Team Manager and Co-Head Coach Cindi Timmons
Dr. Sandra J. Berkowitz
Assistant Coach from The Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sandy Berkowitz is an Assistant Debate Coach at The Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has also been a college professor of Communication Studies, where her research interests include the connections between debate and critical thinking, gender and social practices, and critical cultural discourses. Sandy has coached for more than 30 years and is a recipient of the 2015 Minnesota Coach of the Year Award. She has coached at both the high school and college levels and has had award-winning students in Public Forum, Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Congressional Debate, as well as Oratory, Extemporaneous Speaking, Informative, and Rhetorical Criticism. Sandy has taught and/or directed at several summer workshops including those at Harvard, Dartmouth, the University of Southern California, and Wayne State University.
Shane Stafford
Assistant Coach from The Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Shane Stafford is the Director of Debate at The Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has coached for more than 30 years in all debate and speech events with multiple national and state champions and finalists in Public Forum, Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Congressional Debate as well as Oratory and Extemporaneous Speaking. Shane is the recipient of many awards, including the 2015 Minnesota Coach of the Year. Shane has coached at both the high school and university levels of competitive debate. He has taught and/or directed at several summer workshops, including those at Harvard, Dartmouth, Georgetown, and the University of Southern California.
In Memoriam
Dr. Alfred “Tuna” Snider
Former Coach from the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont
Dr. Snider was the Edwin W. Lawrence Professor of Forensics at the University of Vermont. He had degrees from Brown University, Emerson College, and the University of Kansas. He taught courses in debate, argumentation, persuasion, and rhetorical analysis. He was the Director of the World Debate Institute and the Lawrence Debate Union. Dr. Snider conducted formal debate training in more than 40 countries and trained debaters from more than 55 nations. Dr. Snider published six books on debating in the last seven years and during his career edited or wrote more than 50 volumes about debating and for debaters.
USA Debate Alumni
USA Debate Alumni – Class of 2020
Cassandra Berlin
Hawken upper School - Ohio
Cassandra has been involved in speech and debate since her freshman year and currently serves as a team officer, looking to expand the team’s community outreach through volunteerism. Cassandra has competed in five different events, but primarily competes in Congressional Debate. In Congressional Debate, she was a semifinalist at the Tournament of Champions and Harvard and a finalist at Emory. Cassandra has won several tournaments in Ohio and placed in the top ten at Ohio’s State tournament as both a sophomore and junior. Cassandra championed the 2019 NSDA National Tournament in World Schools Debate with her district team and was ranked as the 21st speaker at the tournament. Outside of debate, Cassandra serves on her school’s Senate and leads the Finance Club. She tutors at a local after school community center and has become involved with the nonprofit Teaching Cleveland, which inspires community and political engagement. In her free time, Cassandra enjoys practicing yoga, reading memoirs, cooking, and riding roller coasters.
Anh Cao
Bentonville High School - Arkansas
Anh graduated from Bentonville High School after participating in USA Debate for two years. She was selected for the 2019 WSDC team that took home 5th place in Bangkok and was captain of the 2020 E-WSDC team. Anh is currently on a gap year, studying Arabic through the NSLI-Y Scholarship.
Elyse Dewbre
Northland Christian School - Texas
Elyse was a two-year Team USA team member and attended the 2020 WSDC. She graduated from The Northland Christian School and during high school was an NSDA national champion and a TFA state champion in World Schools. Elyse is currently a freshman pursuing a major in business at the University of Texas.
Arham Habib
Monte Vista High School
Arham is currently a freshman at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he’s studying Finance and Data Science. In high school, he competed in Extemporaneous Speaking, where he championed the Stanford Invitational, got fourth at the Cal Invitational, won the MLK Invitational, and got second at the California State tournament. Currently, he competes for the Penn Debate Society and is conducting research about using business analytic frameworks to address climate change. Though he doesn’t know what the future holds, he’s fascinated by Venture Capital and startup culture.
James Hu
Mira Loma High School
James debated for Mira Loma High School in California and was associated with the USA Debate program for three years. As a competitor, James placed 4th at the NSDA tournament in International Extemp and was a member of the 2020 WSDC team. He currently attends Columbia University and hopes to study both political science and data science. This year he will also be assisting the USA Development Team in their training.
Roopa Irakam
Watchung Hills Regional High School - New Jersey
Roopa is currently a first year student at Barnard College of Columbia University studying Neuroscience and Behavior. She primarily competed in Congressional Debate for Watchung Hills Regional High School where she and her twin sister founded the speech and debate team. As a member of USA Debate, Roopa made it to outrounds at Greenhill, Harvard, and EurOpen in Germany, and she was a part of the USA Debate Development Team where she made it to elimination rounds at Cornell, Blake, and Harvard. She gained more than 25 bids to the TOC in Congressional Debate and continues to stay involved with the debate community by coaching younger students. She is immensely grateful for her time as a member of the team and is excited to see their success in the future!
Rohit Jhawar
John F. Kennedy High School – California
Rohit competed in Congressional Debate for 4 years at John F. Kennedy High School and was a member of Team USA from 2019-2020, his senior year. He is now a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is studying Molecular and Cell Biology. He is very thankful for his time in debate, and now gives back as an assistant coach for Congressional Debate at James Logan High School.
Jack Johnson
The Blake School in Minnesotta
Jack is a returning member of the USA debate team as well as a captain of his team at Blake. Last year, Jack and his partner won the Tournament of Champions and the NDCA national championship in Public Forum debate. Additionally, he placed in the top 10 at the NSDA national championship, finished as the top speaker at the University of Kentucky National Opener, and championed the King Round Robin, finishing the year as the highest-ranking Junior in the country. His competitive accolades in World Schools debate include reaching semifinals at Harvard (after advancing to the Octofinal round the previous year), finals at Greenhill, and semifinals at the EurOpen tournament in Germany. When he isn’t debating, Jack writes for his school newspaper, Spectrum, and volunteers alongside the Miracle League to help support disabled youth by organizing and coaching recreational baseball games. In his free time, Jack enjoys spending time with friends, vacationing with family, playing video games, and binging Netflix. Jack can’t wait for another incredible year with Team USA!
USA Debate Alumni – Class of 2019
Ishan Bhatt
Harvard University
Michael Bole
Emory University
Michael debated for Dreyfoos School of the Arts in Florida, was a member of USA Debate, and was a National Student of the Year Finalist. Since graduating, Michael has been consulting for minority-owned small businesses in Atlanta, designing advertising material for entrepreneurship initiatives, interning for the Atlanta Urban Debate League, and serving as an advisor in residence halls. He is double-majoring in Business (Marketing and Consulting) and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality studies. Long-term, he hopes to work in creative marketing to continue to communicate in meaningful ways.
Maddie Butler
Indiana University
Maddie is grateful for her time debating as a member of USA Debate and the Fishers High School debate team in Indiana. Throughout her debate career, Maddie earned two state championship titles in Congressional Debate as well as a State Championship title in Discussion. She also earned a championship title at the Harvard-Westlake World Schools Debate tournament and was an NSDA semi-finalist in Congressional Debate. She is in her second year at Indiana University studying International Law, Political Science, and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures through the Wells Scholars Program. She looks forward to pursuing a career in human rights and immigration law. Maddie is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to grow through USA Debate and looks forward to staying connected with the team.
Emily Grantham
Having spent a gap year teaching debate education in China, Emily is currently in her first year at Smith planning to major in Government. Competing for Kingwood High School and USA Debate, Emily is a TFA state and NSDA national champion (and two time finalist) in World Schools Debate who competed at the WSDC in 2018 and 2019, reaching quarterfinals both times. While in quarantine, she has been enjoying learning how to cook and roller skate.
Ranen Miao
Washington University in St. Louis
Ranen (he/him) is a rising sophomore at WashU, studying political science and sociology. He is incredibly grateful for his time representing his country on USA Debate from 2017-2019, and serving as Millburn High School’s debate president. He currently serves as WashU’s Student Body President and Vice President of the debate team, working on projects to increase mental healthcare, expand access to free menstrual products, and create equity on campus. In high school, he was ranked 1st in the country for Congress, winning the TOC, Harvard, UPenn, Princeton, Glenbrooks, Blake, and New Jersey States twice. With the USA Team, he also won tournaments in Slovenia, Cornell, Greenhill, and Harvard-Westlake.
Leila Saklou
Luke Tillitski
Yale University
Brian Zhou
USA Debate Alumni – Class of 2018
Shreya Agarwala
University of Texas at Austin
Piper Doyle
University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business
Piper is currently a senior attending the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. She is studying business information analytics. Piper continues to debate in the British Parliamentary format, works as a residential assistant, and interns as a research analyst for an international company based in the Denver area.
Shreyoshi Das
Wharton School - University of Pennsylvania
Shreyoshi is a junior at the Wharton School studying management and decision processes. She currently serves as the President of the Penn Debate Society and consults for Penn International Impact Consulting, a pro bono consulting group on campus. Shreyoshi competed on the 2018 WSDC team in Zagreb, Croatia, where Team USA placed sixth overall. She also debated for Flower Mound High School in Texas for four years in a variety of events and served as co-captain of her school team.
Ella Michaels
Harvard University
Nikhil Ramaswamy
University of Chicago
USA Debate Alumni – Class of 2017
Aditya Dhar
Harvard University
Aditya is a senior studying Applied Math, Computer Science, and Economics at Harvard University. He placed second at 2017 NSDA Nationals in Congressional Debate, and semifinaled at the 2017 World Championships with Team USA. In college, Aditya competes with the Harvard College Debating Union, and was a top ten speaker and semifinalist at the 2020 World Championship. Outside of debate, he also enjoys doing research in economics, computer science, and statistics.
Colette Faulkner
Pepperdine University
Gaurav Gawankar
George Washington University
Ellie Singer
Yale University
Ellie Singer is currently on leave from Yale University, where she is majoring in political science. She stays involved in debate by coaching for her alma mater, the Blake School, and competing in American parliamentary debate. Ellie serves as the 2020 President of the Yale Debate Association, the Vice President of Operations of American Parliamentary Debate Association, and a co-director of the activist organization Engender at Yale.
Sarah Lanier
Baylor University
Joshua May
Cornell University
Liz Yount
The George Washington University
USA Debate Alumni – Class of 2016
Milan Amritraj
University of Southern California
Nikolas Angelopoulos
Stanford University
Sonya Huang
Wharton School – University of Pennsylvania
Julia Lauer
Harvard University
Amit Kukreja
Rutgers Business School
USA Debate Alumni – Class of 2015
Sara Evall
Duke University
Sara is a Legal Assistant at Gupta Wessler, a national appellate, constitutional, and complex litigation boutique. She just finished a year long position as a Policy and Program Fellow at the American Constitution Society, a leading progressive legal organization. Sara graduated from Duke University in May 2019 with a B.A. in Refugee and Migrant Studies, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She received distinction for her thesis, which she wrote based off of primary research she conducted in Jordan. Her thesis was entitled: “The Deprivation of the Right to Work as a Barrier to Autonomy for Iraqi and Syrian Refugees in Jordan.” Highlights of her time at Duke included working closely with resettled refugees in Durham and spearheading sexual assault prevention efforts.
Nicky Halterman
Oxford University
Jane Irons
Yale University
Abigail Marone
The George Washington University
Mitali Mathur
Georgetown University
Tiana Menon
Harvard University
Amelia Miller
Harvard University
Jasper Primack
University of Chicago Law School
Jasper is a 2L at the University of Chicago Law School. He graduated from Boston University in 2019, where he won the American Parliamentary Debate Association’s Team of the Year award with his debate partner.
SunHee Simon
Stanford University
USA Debate Alumni – Class of 2014
Danny DeBois
Harvard University
Daniel Garrison
Loyola University
Daniel (who goes by Garrison) is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans with a Bachelor’s in Marketing and a recent graduate of High Tech High Graduate School of Education getting a M.Ed with a focus on Teaching and Learning.In the Fall of 2021 he will be a founding teacher as well as the Director of the House System at The Delores Taylor Arthur School for Young Men in New Orleans under the direction of Byron Arthur. Garrison’s end goal is to spend some time in the classroom and then move on to working in education policy and potentially getting another masters in public administration. His love for debate will continue as he attempts to foster a love of rhetoric and argumentation in his classroom. Garrison also currently runs a politics & culture podcast called “Rebellion on the River.”
Shania Hunt
University of California, Los Angeles
Lily Nellans
London School of Economics
Lily competed in speech and debate for four years at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa and went on to compete in college at Western Kentucky University. Outside of forensics and her studies, Lily has completed research for the International Commission on Missing Persons, taught debate in rural Bosnia with Bosnia Initiatives for Local Development, and conducted fieldwork in Kosovo. She recently completed her masters in International Relations at the London School of Economics, where her dissertation “Genocide Studies and Its Queer Potentials” was awarded the International Relations Research Martin Wight Dissertation Prize. Lily is currently the director of the Bluegrass Debate League, an initiative housed at the University of Kentucky created to increase debate participation in the state.
Read “Exploring Cultural Competence in the World Schools Debate Community“ by Team Manager and Co-Head Coach Cindi Timmons
When the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) began in Australia in 1988, six nations participated: Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Over the years, the event has expanded, culminating in 2016 with 56 nations represented at the WSDC in Stuttgart. While debating teams from six continents have been represented, the increasing variety of participants from non-Western nations and the growing diversity of the debaters themselves in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, etc., means that it is time for the global debating community to examine how inclusive it is and to evaluate its cultural competence as an organization. This paper seeks to address the current state of cultural competence in the organization and how WSDC might become even more inclusive.