Welcome to the Gonzaga University Debate Program Website.
For over 100 years Gonzaga University has sponsored a highly competitive program
devoted to excellence in collegiate policy debate. We encourage you to explore
this site.
Located in the
Inland Northwest on the banks of the Spokane River, Gonzaga University has
supported policy debate as a cornerstone of a Jesuit education for over 100
years. Over the decades Gonzaga has maintained a strong tradition of debate
manifested in both educational and competitive excellence.
Gonzaga competes in
policy debate on the national and regional NDT/CEDA circuits. Our squad is
generally comprised of 10-14 debaters. The program consistently ranks
among the nations best in both the CEDA and NDT Varsity rankings.
Accomplishments in recent years include multiple elimination round appearances
at both CEDA Nationals and The National Debate Tournament.
The team travels to
approximately 15 tournaments per year. Although our travel schedule will
vary slightly from year to year we consistently attend Wake Forest University,
Northwestern, Cal, Kentucky, Pepperdine, Whitman, USC, NW CEDA
Champs, CEDA National, and the NDT. From year to year we will supplement
this schedule with tournaments including Harvard, Richmond, Weber State,
Northridge, and others. In most years we travel
2-4 teams on the national circuit and 3-7 teams on the west coast. Travel slots,
especially to national level tournaments are earned through hard work. The bar
at has been set extremely high on our program and our debaters are expected to
live up to those standards. Notable alumni of our program
include former Speaker of the House Tom Foley and the current President of
Gonzaga, Father Robert Spitzer, S.J. These and hundreds of others former Gonzaga
debaters and coaches have created and maintained a culture of intellectual
inquiry and dedication to collegiate debate. While membership on the team is
open to any undergraduate, maintaining that membership requires motivation,
dedication, and hard work in both debate and your academic pursuits.
In addition to an
intensive travel schedule the GU Debate Program also sponsors a number of events
to promote academic policy debate. These include: The Jesuit Invitational
Debates (college tournament), The Conway Classic (high school tournament), and
the Gonzaga Debate Institute. The GDI, held each summer throughout July,
is one of the largest and most respected summer high school debate institutes in
the nation. Most recently, GU hosted the 59th annual National Debate
Tournament.
The team has 4 full
time coaches. Glen Frappier (Director of Debate), Steve Pointer (Assistant
Director of Debate) and Jeff Buntin (Assistant Coach) and Izak Dunn (Assistant
Coach).
