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).
