Equality in Forensics April 27 Newsletter
Even as the regular season fully comes to a close, Equality in Forensics’ resources aren’t stopping.
With May just around the corner, there are only two tournaments left in the 2024-25 debate season. Luckily, Equality in Forensics is just as committed to bringing high-quality resources for free, whether it’s the peak of the season or the end.
This newsletter will detail applications to the Board of Directors, our new congress coaching lab, our newest lecture, chapter elections, and our biweekly scrimmage results.
Apply to the Board of Directors!
The current Board of Directors is comprised mostly of seniors (7/13), and because of this, a majority of our Board is graduating this year.
To ensure that Equality in Forensics maintains longevity, we're making careful steps to keep our impact growing. The Board of Directors administrates every part of Equality in Forensics, so understand that this is a major time commitment.
Directors can often be found working 7-10 hours (or more) per week on Equality in Forensics. So, our biggest concern is finding people who have that kind of time within their schedule, but also have a high level of dedication to the organization. If you can't put in that level of commitment, applications for Deputy Directors are also open!
If you're looking for ways to climb the ranks, this is the perfect opportunity. Deputy Directors still have to put in a lot of work, so we are still looking for that same level of commitment.
We encourage all Chapter Leadership and staff to apply, but the application is also open to those who are not currently involved with Equality in Forensics. Feel free to contact us with any questions, and to join our Discord for more information.
Equality in Forensics Coaching is Back
With national tournaments like NCFL and NSDA coming up — and our regular labs wrapped up for the season— we’re proud to announce that we’re launching a special lab for the competition season.
Frequency: Likely 2 sessions per week, each ~1 hour. Tentatively Monday and Thursday at 8pm EST.
Before major tournaments, we will: Break down tournament-specific bills, strategize docket selections and prep approaches, as well as hold drills/mock rounds.
While waiting on dockets, we will: Work on fundamentals, and do more mock rounds/drills using common nat circuit bills.
Curriculum Focus: Prep for NCFL and NSDA. (Even if you’re not competing, this is solid practice — we encourage you to join!)
Start Date: Early May (1–2 weeks post-TOC).
End Date: Mid-June (right before NSDA).
The deadline for this form is tonight, April 27th, at 11:59 P.M. EST!
If you wish to sign up after this date, please fill out this form and email audreyhuang0816@gmail.com.
Speaking Off the Cuff with Nick Ostheimer and Waleed Haider
When they first prepare, novices write speeches as if they were essays. Experienced debaters spend hours researching and prepping, but often neglect practice and performance. Even circuit insiders are convinced they can deliver someone else’s writing as smoothly as if it were their own.
Authenticity. Advocacy. Originality. We believe these are some of the most important things in speech and debate – including to your judges. As you grow better and better at speech and debate, we believe that your best performances are delivered “off the cuff” when you go off script, and deliver an important line with passion because you actually mean it.
What if you could deliver every sentence of your speech with that same conviction? That's what their lecture is all about, tailored to both Extemp and Congress.
Nick Ostheimer is ranked the #1 congressional debater in the country by the NSDA. He champed Blue Key twice, the UK Season Opener twice, and was ranked top speaker of the Harvard national congressional debate tournament. Nick is an NSDA finalist and two-time TOC finalist, having earned 21 bids to the UK TOC. Coaching since 2023, his students have advanced to finals at major tournaments like Harvard, NSDA, and TOC.
Waleed Haider is a rising freshman at Stanford University. He is the champion of the 2025 MBA extemp round robin, the 2024 TFA Texas State Championship in International Extemp and the Longhorn Classic in US Extemp. He also won the 2025 TFA Texas State Championship in Congressional Debate. Waleed has also advanced to finals at the UK TOC, Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. Waleed has consulted 150 students nationwide in public speaking.
Chapter Elections
As the school year begins to draw to a close, our chapters are starting to have elections.
The following chapters are hosting elections:
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Florida
Illinois
Minnesota
New Jersey
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Texas
Utah
West Virginia
The competition is fierce, and campaigning has already begun. This is a reminder that we’ll be reposting any campaign graphics on our Instagram story to over 4,000 people! Voting starts on May 1st.
Bi-Weekly Scrimmages
Our 21st free scrimmage has concluded. Congratulations to Adhiyanth Ram for winning Congress and Blake McFalls for winning Extemp, and to all the LD debaters who won their rounds. Congrats to our top speaker, Sulamit Shin, and to Lennard and Allison for winning PF.
Unfortunately, there will NOT be a scrimmage on Tuesday, May 6th. We will host our 22nd free online scrimmage on Tuesday, May 20th, at 8 pm EDT for Extemp and Congress and 8:30 pm EDT for PF and LD. Ballots for this scrimmage are out and NSDA points are posted!
Looking ahead to the next scrimmage...
Congress Bill: A Bill to Allow Emotional Pets in Schools Extemp
Topic Area: NSDA Nationals Topic Areas! (<TBD>)
LD Topic: NSDA May Topic
PF Topic: NSDA May Topic
To register, email vsahas11@gmail.com listing your name, tabroom email, and desired event.
Weekly Publications
The Red Folder: In domestic news, read about the discoveries made by NASA's Curiosity rover, the clash between Jerome Powell and Trump, legal disputes between Harvard University and the US government, and Trump's challenges in immigration policy. In international news, read about the ruling on transgender women in the UK, the dispute over Ecuador's presidential elections, and the continuation of war in Syria.
Blog: This week Sahana Chandran wrote about the nuances of being a rural debater, and how, despite the progress we’ve in raising awareness for their issues, we still don’t fully understand the problems plaguing their circuits. Whether purposefully or not, this has often caused us to undermine their achievements and skills.
“The plight of the rural debater is one that we all sympathize with, but that’s as far as we ever go: sympathy. Despite how much my fellow competitors listen to the woes of a rural competitor, they won’t ever consider someone from rural Minnesota to become the next TOC gold.”
Do We Really Understand the Plight of the Rural Debater? by Sahana Chandran
Want to write for the blog? Anyone and everyone can write for Equality in Forensics’ blog! So, don’t wait—submit your article today.
Closing Remarks
As the end of the school year approaches and AP exams draw closer and closer, keep your head up. Take time for yourself to breathe and take breaks from studying. When you’ve achieved your academic goals, Equality in Forensics’ resources will be here to help to achieve your speech and debate goals.
Written by Katie Gorman with the help of the rest of the Equality in Forensics Team.