Are you a varsity debater looking for an intense summer debate experience in
a "top lab"
atmosphere? Welcome to the Zag Scholars Program at the Gonzaga Debate
Institute. The Zags Scholars Program is designed to bring together some of
the most intelligent, driven, committed, and dedicated debaters from across the
nation. We have established a strong tradition of success in
our Scholars Program. Zag Scholars have gone on to receive multiple TOC bids and win
late elimination debates and speaker awards at some of the most competitive tournaments in the nation
including The Glenbrooks, St. Marks, Greenhill, and many others. Zag Scholars
also have already experienced a lot of success in college including first round
bids, RR bids, and late elim appearances at numerous national tournaments
including the NDT and CEDA Nats. Most recently Scholars alumni Nate Cohn earned
bids to both the Kentucky and Dartmouth Round Robins, earned a first round bid
to the National Debate Tournament, and placed 2nd at the 2010 CEDA National
Championships.
The Scholars lab will combine a very intense research experience with a practical
curriculum of practice debates, redos, block writing, and other skills based
work. Your first
three weeks of the program will be heavily devoted to research, strategy and
argument development, and simply learning the
topic. Your final two weeks will be devoted to putting all of that into
practice. Throughout this lab you will receive lecture and instruction on a
diverse base of topics ranging from the Politics DA to the Capitalism K.
Faculty: The Zag Scholars is directed by Jason Russell, coach of the
back to back National Champion Oklahoma Sooners. Jason has been on the faculty of the GDI for 7 years
and directed the Scholars for the previous 4 years. He has
coached at Michigan State University, Gonzaga University, and most recently at
the University of Oklahoma where he is also a PhD candidate in Communication
Studies. Professor Russell is assisted by a faculty of highly qualified
college debaters with extensive experience both competing and judging. This
years scholars lab will be assisted by the 2010 NDT Champion Eric Lanning (Michigan State),
2010 CEDA Nationals Octa Finalist Leah Moczulski
(Gonzaga), and the College Debater of The Year, Brian Rubeia (Texas Dallas). All of these folks are accomplished
very collegiate debaters and compete at the highest levels of college
policy debate.
Criteria: Should you apply? Scholars are generally juniors or seniors with
varsity level experience. Our committee looks for students who have
enjoyed success (even if limited) in Varsity level divisions. They also look for
students who are leaders on their team, have strong work ethics, and are serious
about an intense five week experience. If you think that describes you, then
please apply.
A completed application should include:
1 - The Zag Scholars application form which can
be accessed here.
2 - A letter of recommendation. This may
either be pasted into the bottom of your application or sent separately from the
recommender to
gdistaff@gmail.com. An application is
not complete until we receive your letter of recommendation.
In some instances we might ask for additional
letters or a research sample, and perhaps even a video of you debating.
We will begin accepting applications for the
2010 Scholars Program on November 1st. You will either be
accepted, waitlisted, or rejected within 2 weeks of our receipt of your
application. Please
email the
application
to gdistaff@gmail.com
Jason Russell, Director, Zag Scholars
Glen Frappier, Director, GDI
