USA Debate

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 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.

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 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. 

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 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!

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.

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 (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. 

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. 

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.