Equality in Forensics' August 18th Newsletter

Coaching, Community, and Competition Made Accessible for All.

Welcome to Equality in Forensics’ second newsletter. For those just joining, we are a nonprofit student-run organization committed to providing an equitable Speech and Debate experience for all competitors out there.

School is slowly starting back up and so has the competitive season. Soon, thousands of novices will step foot into their first tournament, thousands of seasoned competitors will enter the national circuit, and thousands more will all be vying to represent their school and take home a national trophy. In this newsletter, Equality in Forensics is excited to highlight the new initiatives we have started to help Speech and Debate competitors every step of the way.

In this week’s edition, we will announce the finalized coaching roster for Congress and Extemp as well as cover Equality in Forensics’ University of Kentucky Season Opener’s discounted entries. We will move on to the new weekly scrimmage program, explain the chapter initiatives Equality in Forensics has across the country, and highlight our volunteers who have been awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Finally, we will wrap up with the latest updates from our blog and Red Folder before ending with closing remarks and an exit poll.

“Opportunities – the good ones – are messy, confusing, and hard to recognize. They’re risky. They challenge you.”

-Susan Wojcicki

Coaching from Champions

Congress has finalized its best coaching roster to date. Coaching consists of many nationally competitive debaters and finalists. From Harvard second place finisher Nicholas Ostheimer from Florida, TOC 3rd place finisher Alisha Hassanali from California, to NSDA Senate t6 finisher Swathi Bodduluri from Pennsylvania, our coaching staff has a range of styles and backgrounds stretching across the entire country, allowing Equality in Forensics to be as accommodating to our students as possible.

Equality in Forensics is also offering its best lineup in history for free lab extemp coaching this fall. The finalized lineup includes the 2024 champions of NSDA IX (Anthony Babu), NSDA USX (Tea Shouldice), NIETOC (Robert Zhang), ETOC (Sasha Morel), and UKTOC (Charlotte Reitman). Every single non-graduating champion of a TOC is here to teach their craft and help competitors from every single background get on the national stage. Sign up today!

Competition

Equality in Forensics is happy to offer discounted independent entries at the University of Kentucky Season Opener on Sept. 7-9. By signing up through Equality in Forensics, we can split the $100 team fee among all entries, reducing your cost of attendance. Everyone who enters under the Equality in Forensics institution will receive a $25 discount compared to solo independent entrants, and those who bring a judge (in Congress and Speech events) will receive an additional $50 discount.

We will also be bringing back the much-requested weekly scrimmages on Tuesdays at 7:45 p.m. EST. This year, we are expanding our event offerings to include Extemporaneous Speaking and Congressional Debate. The first scrimmage will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 20, featuring legislation on Saudi Arabia Arm Sales (from the 2024 NSDA Nationals Docket) and Extemp questions on the 2024 U.S. Election. You can register for the scrimmage on its tabroom page, or by emailing kd9junior@gmail.com.

Regional Chapters

Throughout the past year, Equality in Forensics has been steadily building region-based chapters to become catalysts of change throughout the country. With leaders of these chapters being Speech and Debate members within their local communities, it is a grassroots movement that enables individual voices across the country to be heard. In just the past year alone, Arizona raised $700 through their bakesale to pay for judging fees, Utah raised $400 to pay for NSDA dues, and New Jersey is planning to create an Equality in Forensics Team so any independents can attend the local/state tournaments without a team. Equality in Forensics has chapters across the country that you can be a part of, and if your region doesn’t yet have one, reach out and let your voice be heard!

Community Service

Equality in Forensics is proud to provide the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) to 9 volunteers for their exceptional service during the 2023-24 year. Recipients include: Nicholas Ostheimer (Gold), C.J. Getting (Gold), Enan Khan (Gold), Aera Rege (Silver), Amanda Miranda (Bronze), Breck DuPaul (Bronze), Kathan Desai (Bronze), Grace Jackson (Bronze), and Henry Dieringer (Bronze). With a combined total of more than 1500 volunteer hours amongst just nine members of our staff, Equality in Forensics is looking forward to a new year of even more service to provide equality for all.

Virtual Resources

This week on Equality in Forensics’ blog, Dani Scantlin reflects on a previous article, titled "A Plan To Save Rural Debate" by Akshat Anand. She agreed with the points made by him, but added two more critical steps to keep rural debate in the loop and thriving- support and advocacy.

"We can save rural speech and debate via centralization, resource infrastructure, and training, but I think there are two more items that need to be talked about: support and advocacy... as rural debaters, we're just expected to fend for ourselves. But if we do not want to talk about the death of rural speech and debate programs, who will?"

-Dani Scantlin, An Ode to The Death of Rural Debate

Moving on we have the Red Folder, Equality in Foresnics’ weekly publication on all things current events related in the world. In our domestic news, read about Harris and Trump's differing economic policies, the efforts to punish 9/11 hijackers held in Guantanamo, an easy-to-read bio of Tim Walz, and the lifting of a weapons sales ban to Saudi Arabia. In our international news, read about Brazil's fight against indigenous rights, Bangladeshi protests, South Asian pollution, and British far-right riots. Last, but definitely not least, read an excellent special report on the turmoil in Venezuela following their recent presidential elections. See what Daniel Song's recommendations are for the international community, based on extensive research and countless political experts' input and testimony.

“I hope that our collective conscience is worth more than cheap sloganeering. Only if all of us commit to keeping the flames of democracy burning so strong that they cannot be snuffed out, will the Venezuelan people ever see the dawn of a brighter future.”

Daniel Song, Mulling Over Maduro’s Machinations

Closing Remarks

A new school year has arrived, as freshmen become novices, novices become varsity members, and varsity members take up the torch of leading their Speech and Debate programs like their seniors once did, Equality in Forensics is here to offer our resources to everyone. Thank you for your time, and we hope you will join us again.

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Produced by Charlie Hui and the rest of the Equality in Forensics Team