Equality in Forensics January 19th Newsletter
New Years Resolution: Make the Speech and Debate Community More Accessible One Free Resource at a Time!
A New Year has come. A quarter of a century is over. And the first future debaters from Generation Beta are born. 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.
With the start of a New Year, Equality in Forensics has hit the ground running. In this Newsletter, we will first cover our year with Equality in Forensics Wrapped, new Congress and Extemp Coaching Signups, and an update on new Chapters in California and beyond before closing out with weekly scrimmages and publications.
“The magic in new beginnings is truly the most powerful of them all.”
-Josiah Martin
Equality in Forensics Wrapped
Looking back at 2024, Equality in Forensics is proud of how much the organization has been able to do to help provide resources to all who needed it, and grateful to both the staff for their never-ending effort and the competitors who were willing to take a chance on Equality in Forensics whether that was participating in a scrimmage to simply reading this newsletter. Without further ado, let’s impact out 2024.
We created $239,000 worth of resources and impacted 11,014 people.
Among the resources are: 1,009 pages of digital guides, 35 hours of YouTube content, 10,205 hours of coaching, 587 extemp questions, and 8 newsletters for 1,300 subscribers.
Moving on to community we now have 4,293 Instagram followers, 620 YouTube subscribers, 813 volunteer staff, 23 directors and deputy directors, and 29 regional chapters.
We’ve hosted 23 free scrimmages and tourneys with a combined total of 691 entries, 304 judges, 31 lectures, and 149 camp students.
Our members have won 36 national tournaments and had 215 national final appearances.
And heading into 2025 we still have so much left to do!
Rohan Dash featured in the newspaper as part of Florida’s Equality in Forensics Chapter
New Year, New Chapters
With Equality in Forensics growing faster than ever, we have heard voices across the country and are expanding our chapters! From California to Florida, if you are in a state with a living Speech and Debate community, there are good odds there is a chapter you can be a part of! As a member of a chapter you can represent Equality in Forensics, work with competitors across the region to fundraise to pay for upcoming tournaments and finds people to rally together with to create meaningful change within the community.
New Year, New Coaching Signups
If you haven’t participated in Equality in Forensics coaching, this year is the perfect time to, equipped with a roster of national champions and finalists in both Extemp and Congress, registering now for some of the best and most affordable (it’s literally free!) coaching is one of the best decisions a competitor can make! With labs of all skill levels, no matter where you are on the Speech and Debate ladder, there is coaching to help you climb to the next level.
Weekly Scrimmages
Our 14th free scrimmage has concluded. Congratulations to Pranav Garigipati for winning Congress and Theo Campen, Sumit Datta, and Ian Cheng for winning Extemp! And to all the LD debaters that won their rounds! Congrats to our top speaker Anna Dong.
We will host our fifteenth free online scrimmage on Tuesday January 28th at 8 PM EST for extemp and congress. 8:30 for PF and LD We will be offering PF for the first time!
Congress Bill: A Bill to Impose a Sugar Tax
Extemp Topic Area: Domestic Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
LD Topic: Jan/Feb: Resolved: The United States ought to become party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and/or the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. P
F: Jan topic of: Resolved: The African Union should grant diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Somaliland as an independent state.
To register, email maubuchondebate@gmail.com listing your name, tabroom email, and desired event.
Weekly Publications
Blog- In this week’s edition of the Equality In Forensics Blog, read about the implications of how we impact out our speeches, and the implications it has within and outside of the round.
"There’s an artificial nature to the speech and debate community where there’s a formula for everything: how you speak, when to use hand gestures, and most importantly, what kinds of things you can speak about. Speech and debate is supposed to be a place where we allow the voiceless to speak about their experiences, whether that’s in the form of an Oratory or a Congress bill - a place to gain perspectives, not confine them. When there’s a formula that you ‘need’ to win, it limits us to hearing the same performances every time, defeating the purpose of this community."
The Superficial Impact—Ananya Saravanan
Red January's shaping up to be a pretty hot month for current events. In addition to our typical news brief, writer Andy Choy created a special report on Canada's political situation following Justin Trudeau's resignation. Take a look at our snapshot of the week to stay up to date and win your rounds with our news briefs, special reports, and NEW!! breaking news updates at our independent website, www.redfoldernews.org. Follow our Instagram @redfoldernews for updates!
In domestic news, read about Meta’s controversy with misinformation, concerns in the upcoming cabinet, the Los Angeles fires, and Trump’s expected policies following a press conference. In international news, read about Lebanon’s newest leader, Greenland’s potential as a US state, Syria’s education system, and border disputes in Central Asia.
Conclusion
For some, Speech and debate is a sprint yet for others it’s a marathon. No matter what step you are at, Equality in Forensics is committed to taking everyone to their desired finish line. A new year offers a fresh start, we wish you all the best this season!
Brought to you by Charlie Hui and the rest of the Equality in Forensics Team