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University of Wyoming


Back row, left to right: Jamie Piechura, Tony Johnson, Mike Bausch, Will Jensen, Travis Beach, Isaac McBride. Front row: Kristen Brown, Kelly Nickel, Grae Harper, Travis Cram.

Debate
 

WYOMING SPEECH AND DEBATE: A Tradition of Excellence
 
The University of Wyoming's Speech and Debate tradition began around 1912, with the formulation of a triangular debate league with teams in Colorado.  The Cowboys were the first regional team to successfully demand the inclusion of women in debate competition, and from the 1920s through the 1980s, the Pokes dominated on the national level, scoring countless tournament victories and receiving many First Round At-Large bids to the National Debate Tournament.  In the late 1960s, the Cowboys debated against students from the Soviet Union in a one-of-a-kind matchup between American and Soviet debaters.  In the 1990s, UW Debate began to establish its reputation as the preeminent school in National Parliamentary Debate, winning a national championship in 1995, a runner-up award in 1996, myriad tournament victories throughout the rest of the 90s, taking second again in 2000 and 2001, and winning both the NPDA and NPTE national championships in 2003.  Meanwhile, UW's historically significant policy debate team has continued its national success with elimination round appearances, round robin victories, and speaking honors across the nation, culminating in the 2006 CEDA Debater of the Year award, and a 2007 run of 44 wins and 12 losses for UW's top policy debate team.
 

UW Debate has also served as the center of summer argumentation scholarship for many years, hosting low-cost summer institutes and cooperative educational workshops for both high school and college debate; hosting public debates on hot-button issues such as hate crime legislation, global warming, U.S. foreign policy, and the role of science in public life.  In the spring semester of 2006, Director of Forensics Matt Stannard was selected to deliver the inaugural address for the University of Wyoming's Faculty Lecture Series.  You can read his speech about the role of debate in fostering a democratic society here. 
 
RECENT UW SPEECH AND DEBATE PRESIDENTS:
 
1999-2000:            BETH GASSON
2000-2001:            JUSTIN RACETTE
2001-2002:            JAMES DEVORE
2002-2003:            CAROL GREEN
2003-2004:            KRISTEN BARTON
2004-2005:            BLAKE CAROTHERS
2005-2006:            SARA DEGROOT
2006-2007:            WILL JENSEN   
2007-2008:            ANTHONY ROBERTS

QUESTIONS?
Email Matt Stannard at
 stannard@uwyo.edu
or call UW Debate at
(307) 766-6690  



Jess Ryan, left, and Tony Roberts, are ranked 6th out of over 300 teams in NPDA/NPTE parliamentary debate. They have won two tournaments and appeared in quarter-finals of six others.

Meet the 2007-2009 UW Coaching Staff
Debate photos - January 2007
Highlights of 2006-07 Season
UW Debate News Article Links
Other Debate Links