Yale Debate Association
Encyclopedia
The Yale Debate Association (YDA) is Yale University
's only competitive intercollegiate debate team. Founded in 1908, it is the most prolific winner of the American Parliamentary Debate Association's Club of the Year award. The YDA was also the first American team to win and have the top speaker at the modern World Championships. Currently, the YDA is ranked as the third best debate team in the world, behind Oxford
and Sydney
.
three times a year. Teams of three students each debated topics that covered a wide range of issues. Prominent officials— from judges, to university presidents, and even former United States president Grover Cleveland— determined the winners of each round. The debates were open to the public, free of charge, and drew large crowds on campus. The New York Times reported that “It is generally as important to win this debate [Yale v. Harvard] as to win the football match in the fall.”
In 1922, Yale helped create an intercollegiate debate league with eight other institutions. The league grew to a national level when West Point hosted an open tournament in 1947.
The YDA's most recent style of debate began with the creation of the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) in 1982. The format of parliamentary debate differs from those used by earlier leagues; teams consist of two debaters rather than three, and the order of the speeches is structured differently. The team continues to compete in APDA today.
in 2004. Among those who acted as assistant coaches under Osterweis was John O'Leary
, then a student at the law school
and later the United States Ambassador to Chile
. The team now hosts a tournament for local Connecticut schools in memory of Rollin Osterweis.
YDA membership is competitive and tryouts are held in the beginning of Yale's fall semester for those wishing to join the team. Once admitted, members remain on the team for the remainder of their time at Yale. The team consists of roughly 40-50 members.
The team is also active in the political structure of the league, and has had members representing the team on the executive board of APDA. YDA members who have been elected President of APDA include Andrew Rohrbach (2008–2009), Andrew Korn (2004–2005), and Scott Luftglass (2000–2001).
s, at the World Universities Debating Championships, and at other Inter-Varsity debate tournaments. Currently, the YDA is ranked as the third best collegiate debate organization in the world after the University of Sydney Union and the Oxford Union.
The World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) is conducted in the British Parliamentary
style of debate. The YDA competes annually at WUDC and has had more top speakers at WUDC than any other American university, and was the first team from the United States to reach the WUDC final round.
Teams from across the United States and Canada attend the annual North American Championships. The style of debate is similar to American parliamentary, however speeches are shortened. The YDA has won the tournament three times, more than any other American team.
In addition to these tournaments, the YDA competes at the Oxford and Cambridge Inter-varsity tournaments. Yale debaters won the Oxford Invitational most recently in 2009, as well as in 2006 (Yale also won the Cambridge Invitational in 2006)
(NFL) tournament for high school students. Students come from across the country to compete in twelve events. Traditionally, quarter-finalists in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas, octo-finalists in Public Forum Debate
, and Congressional Debate Super Session participants earn a bid to the Tournament of Champions
.
The Yale Invitational has been hosted on Yale University's campus every fall since 1993. The organizational aspects of the tournament are entirely run by student members of the YDA. The competition itself is directed by a core of experienced coaches who are familiar with tabulation and tournament direction.
in coordination with the Rollin G. Osterweis Fund.
; the winner keeps the rotating trophy until the next year’s tournament.
As one of the oldest debating institutions in the United States, the YDA has developed a large alumni community. Famous alumni have included 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry
, President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Howard Taft
and publisher and journalist William F. Buckley. Other former Yale debate team members include conservative writer and activist L. Brent Bozell, Jr., Stanford Law School
professor Deborah Rhode
and environmental attorney Ralph Cavanagh
. The YDA recently celebrated its 100th anniversary with the Centennial Reunion in October 2008, where the Yale Association for Debate Alumni was formally created.
, which seeks to provide the local community with the opportunity to participate in the activity of debate. The UDL provides weekly coaching lessons to local area high school students, as well as three charity tournaments in each semester. The program has expanded from its inception in 2004 to include ten public schools in New Haven.
, Vice President of Policy for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) came to Yale to debate two YDA members on whether it is ethical to eat animals. Friedrich has debated meat, fur, and animal-experimentation industry representatives on many television and radio programs, including NBC's Today show as well as other programs on stations including CNN and MSNBC. The YDA defended eating animals.
and Howard University
held a joint event in 2009 and in 2010 that was sponsored by the NAACP and YDA. The debates centered on several topics addressing important questions facing the United States with relation to race and equality. The event’s style is shortened parliamentary and no winner is named. The 2009 and 2010 Yale-Howard Debates were attended by over 2,700 people in Woolsey Hall
on Yale University Campus. The audience also included prominent figures of the Yale administration.
news.
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
's only competitive intercollegiate debate team. Founded in 1908, it is the most prolific winner of the American Parliamentary Debate Association's Club of the Year award. The YDA was also the first American team to win and have the top speaker at the modern World Championships. Currently, the YDA is ranked as the third best debate team in the world, behind Oxford
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
and Sydney
University of Sydney Union
The University of Sydney Union is the student-run services and amenities provider at the University of Sydney. The Union's key services include the provision of food and beverages, live music and other entertainment, the Verge Arts Festival and other cultural activities, Orientation week and...
.
History
Founded in 1908, the Yale Debate Association initially hosted debates with Harvard and PrincetonPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
three times a year. Teams of three students each debated topics that covered a wide range of issues. Prominent officials— from judges, to university presidents, and even former United States president Grover Cleveland— determined the winners of each round. The debates were open to the public, free of charge, and drew large crowds on campus. The New York Times reported that “It is generally as important to win this debate [Yale v. Harvard] as to win the football match in the fall.”
In 1922, Yale helped create an intercollegiate debate league with eight other institutions. The league grew to a national level when West Point hosted an open tournament in 1947.
The YDA's most recent style of debate began with the creation of the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) in 1982. The format of parliamentary debate differs from those used by earlier leagues; teams consist of two debaters rather than three, and the order of the speeches is structured differently. The team continues to compete in APDA today.
Coaches
The YDA has had two official faculty coaches. The first, John Chester Adams graduated from Yale in 1886 and coached the team from when he began teaching in 1914 to his retirement in 1941. The annual Adams Cup Debate Tournament between residential colleges at Yale is named in his honor. The second, professor of history and oratory Rollin G. Osterweis, coached the team after Adams’ retirement until his own in 1979. Former students of Osterweis include 2004 presidential candidates John Kerry and George Bush. "Rollie Osterweis, who coached the debaters, always said that Bill Buckley and John Kerry were the best speakers he'd ever worked with," Yale graduate Harvey Bundy told The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 2004. Among those who acted as assistant coaches under Osterweis was John O'Leary
John O'Leary (ambassador)
John O'Leary served as mayor of Portland, Maine, and as United States ambassador to Chile under President Bill Clinton.-Personal life:...
, then a student at the law school
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
and later the United States Ambassador to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. The team now hosts a tournament for local Connecticut schools in memory of Rollin Osterweis.
Structure
The Yale Debate Association is run by a board of students who are elected by the team as a whole each year. This board is entrusted to handle nearly all responsibilities associated with running the team. Currently, the Executive Board consists of five members: the President, the Director of Development, the Director of Membership, the Tournament Coordinator, and the Treasurer.YDA membership is competitive and tryouts are held in the beginning of Yale's fall semester for those wishing to join the team. Once admitted, members remain on the team for the remainder of their time at Yale. The team consists of roughly 40-50 members.
National Competition
The Yale Debate Association primarily competes in the American Parliamentary style of debate as a member of the American Parliamentary Debate Association, which is an intercollegiate debate association with dozens of member universities across the United States. The YDA competes weekly at tournaments throughout the country.The team is also active in the political structure of the league, and has had members representing the team on the executive board of APDA. YDA members who have been elected President of APDA include Andrew Rohrbach (2008–2009), Andrew Korn (2004–2005), and Scott Luftglass (2000–2001).
International Competition
In addition to competition within APDA, the YDA competes internationally. The YDA competes at the North American Debating ChampionshipNorth American Debating Championship
The North American Debating Championship is the official university debating championship of North America, sanctioned by the national university debating associations in the United States and Canada, the American Parliamentary Debate Association and the Canadian University Society for...
s, at the World Universities Debating Championships, and at other Inter-Varsity debate tournaments. Currently, the YDA is ranked as the third best collegiate debate organization in the world after the University of Sydney Union and the Oxford Union.
The World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) is conducted in the British Parliamentary
British Parliamentary Style
British Parliamentary style debate is a common form of academic debate. It has gained support in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Europe, Africa, Philippines and United States, and has also been adopted as the official style of the World Universities Debating Championship and European...
style of debate. The YDA competes annually at WUDC and has had more top speakers at WUDC than any other American university, and was the first team from the United States to reach the WUDC final round.
Teams from across the United States and Canada attend the annual North American Championships. The style of debate is similar to American parliamentary, however speeches are shortened. The YDA has won the tournament three times, more than any other American team.
In addition to these tournaments, the YDA competes at the Oxford and Cambridge Inter-varsity tournaments. Yale debaters won the Oxford Invitational most recently in 2009, as well as in 2006 (Yale also won the Cambridge Invitational in 2006)
Tournaments Hosted by the YDA
The Yale High School Invitational
The Yale Invitational is a nationwide National Forensic LeagueNational Forensic League
The National Forensic League is a non-partisan, non-profit educational honor society established to encourage and motivate American high school students to participate in and become proficient in the forensic arts: debate, public speaking and interpretation. NFL is the America's oldest and largest...
(NFL) tournament for high school students. Students come from across the country to compete in twelve events. Traditionally, quarter-finalists in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas, octo-finalists in Public Forum Debate
Public forum debate
Public forum debate, also known as crossfire debate, PFD , is a style of debate practiced in National Forensic League, Texas Forensics Association, and National Catholic Forensic League competitions....
, and Congressional Debate Super Session participants earn a bid to the Tournament of Champions
Tournament of Champions (debate)
The Tournament of Champions is a high school debate tournament held annually at the University of Kentucky on the first weekend of May. It is the most prestigious tournament on the "national circuit," representing some of the most competitively successful debaters from the nation's most prestigious...
.
The Yale Invitational has been hosted on Yale University's campus every fall since 1993. The organizational aspects of the tournament are entirely run by student members of the YDA. The competition itself is directed by a core of experienced coaches who are familiar with tabulation and tournament direction.
The Yale Inter-Varsity (IV)
The Yale Inter-Varsity Debate Tournament is an annual international debate tournament for college students held in British Parliamentary (BP) style. It was first held in 2006. The organizational aspects of the tournament are run by members of the YDA. The adjudication team is led by a Chief Adjudicator and Deputy Chief Adjudicator, both of which are often current or former team members. The Yale IV is the only British Parliamentary tournament held by teams that are part of the American Parliamentary Debate Association.Triangulars
Yale continues to debate Harvard and Princeton in the annual tradition of the Triangulars debates. The competition began near the end of the 19th century as an ad-hoc debate against Harvard. A more formal association began in 1908, when Yale joined forces with Harvard and Princeton to hold annual debates called “Triangulars” that would discuss current political and economic affairs. The debates gained national attention and were attended by high-level officials and large audiences. Today, the YDA continues this tradition by fielding two, three-member teams to debate both the Harvard and Princeton delegations every year.Osterweis
Founded in 1980, The Rollin G. Osterweis Tournament is a free tournament for high school students in Connecticut. The tournament includes a demonstration round from four current debaters and a training session for current high school debaters. The tournament is named after YDA Coach Rollin G. Osterweis and is funded by Jonathan Edwards CollegeJonathan Edwards College
Jonathan Edwards College is a residential college at Yale University. Established in 1932, it is the oldest of Yale's residential colleges. Members of the Yale community refer to it informally as J.E....
in coordination with the Rollin G. Osterweis Fund.
Adams
The YDA also runs the Adams Cup, an intramural debate tournament between the residential colleges at Yale. The tournament features students from Yale’s twelve residential collegesResidential colleges of Yale University
Yale University has a system of 12 residential colleges to which students are assigned before they arrive. They form centers of residential life, including housing, dining, and common areas for students.-History:...
; the winner keeps the rotating trophy until the next year’s tournament.
Alumni
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
and publisher and journalist William F. Buckley. Other former Yale debate team members include conservative writer and activist L. Brent Bozell, Jr., Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...
professor Deborah Rhode
Deborah Rhode
Deborah L. Rhode is one of the leading scholars in the fields of legal ethics and gender, law, and public policy. An author of 20 books, including Women and Leadership and Moral Leadership, she is the nation’s most frequently cited scholar in legal ethics. She is the Ernest W...
and environmental attorney Ralph Cavanagh
Ralph Cavanagh
Ralph Cavanagh is a senior attorney and co-director of Natural Resources Defense Council's energy program. Cavanagh has been with the NRDC since 1979 and was on the Secretary of Energy Advisory board from 1993-2003...
. The YDA recently celebrated its 100th anniversary with the Centennial Reunion in October 2008, where the Yale Association for Debate Alumni was formally created.
Centennial Reunion
Over one hundred current and former members of the team attended the Centennial Reunion in October 2008. The event included demonstration debates by former members of the YDA, as well as an alumni debate and a humorous debate, in addition to presentations demonstrating the current structure of the team. The event also paid tribute to the late coach of the YDA, Rollin Osterweis.Yale Association for Debate Alumni (YADA)
YADA was founded in October 2008 to serve as a community for former members of the YDA. The organization holds social gatherings for alumni members and serves as a mechanism for current YDA members to contact former members of the team.Service
In addition to its usual activities, the YDA is a partner organization of the New Haven Urban Debate LeagueUrban debate league
An urban debate league is a group of high school policy debate teams from urban high schools in the United States. Usually, UDL's are located in large cities throughout the US, and work with predominantly minority students-Early years:...
, which seeks to provide the local community with the opportunity to participate in the activity of debate. The UDL provides weekly coaching lessons to local area high school students, as well as three charity tournaments in each semester. The program has expanded from its inception in 2004 to include ten public schools in New Haven.
The PETA Debate
On March 31, 2010 Bruce FriedrichBruce Friedrich
Bruce Friedrich is Senior Director for Strategic Initiatives at Farm Sanctuary.Friedrich serves on the governing board of the Catholic Vegetarian Society, the advisory board of the Christian Vegetarian Association, and is a founding member of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians...
, Vice President of Policy for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
(PETA) came to Yale to debate two YDA members on whether it is ethical to eat animals. Friedrich has debated meat, fur, and animal-experimentation industry representatives on many television and radio programs, including NBC's Today show as well as other programs on stations including CNN and MSNBC. The YDA defended eating animals.
The Yale-Howard Debate
Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
held a joint event in 2009 and in 2010 that was sponsored by the NAACP and YDA. The debates centered on several topics addressing important questions facing the United States with relation to race and equality. The event’s style is shortened parliamentary and no winner is named. The 2009 and 2010 Yale-Howard Debates were attended by over 2,700 people in Woolsey Hall
Woolsey Hall
Woolsey Hall is the primary auditorium at Yale University. Woolsey Hall, which seats 2,695 people, was built as part of the Yale bicentennial celebration in 1901. The architects were Carrère and Hastings, designers of the New York Public Library....
on Yale University Campus. The audience also included prominent figures of the Yale administration.
The VH1 "Great Debate"
Over the summer of 2009, the YDA participated in an exhibition debate in the middle of Harold Square in New York City against the Harvard team debating various pop culture topics. Part of this debate was later shown on VH1VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
news.
National Awards
Over the past 25 years, members of the YDA have received many awards for their performances throughout the course of a season in the American Parliamentary Debate Association. Since APDA's founding, six Yale teams have won the Team of the Year award, granted annually to the league's top performing team of two individuals. The league also gives the Speaker of the Year (SOTY) award, presented every year to its highest-ranked individual debater. YDA members have won this award six times in total. Finally, the Novice of the Year (NOTY) award, given annually to APDA's top performing first-year debater, has been awarded to Yale debaters four times.See also
- List of Yale University student organizations
- Yale Political UnionYale Political UnionThe Yale Political Union , a debate society now the largest student organization at Yale University, was founded in 1934 by Professor Alfred Whitney Griswold , to enliven the university's political culture of the time. It was modelled on the Cambridge Union Society and Oxford Union...
- The Model United Nations Team at Yale
Further reading
- Gilbert, S. Competitive and Slightly Unhinged: Why College Debaters Dominate Washington's Political Scene, The Washingtonian, 1 November 2009: http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/14177.html
- Oppenheimer, M. Wisenheimer: A Childhood Subject to Debate Free Press: New York, 2010. Memoir of a former Yale debater.