The University of Georgia, represented by the two-person team of Mike Lacy ('12, Alpharetta) and Austin Layton ('13, Alpharetta), finished the season strong at the National Debate Tournament in Dallas, TX. They compiled a preliminary record of 6-2, including wins over Dartmouth, University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Southern California and qualified for the elimination rounds as the 10th overall seed out of a field of the 78 best debate teams in the country.

In addition to their immediate success, UGA LL was also honored to recieve the 13th overall First Round At-Large Bid to the NDT, recognizing them as one of the top teams in the country over the course of the season.

Please congratulate Mike and Austin on a job well done!

The University of Georgia team of Austin Layton and Mike Lacy has been awarded a first round at-large bid to the 2011 National Debate Tournament, to be held in Dallas, TX in March.

Recognizing UGA LL as one of the 16 top two-person debate teams in the country, recieving a "first round" is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in policy debate. Voted on by coaches around the country, the bid automatically qualifies the team for the NDT.

Layton, sophomore (UGA '13), and Lacy, junior (UGA '12) put together a solid season-long performance, including advancing to the quarter-finals of the University of Kentucky tournament in February.

Other UGA teams will be attempting to qualify for the NDT at the district tournament, next weekend in Atlanta, GA.

Junior Mike Lacy and Sophomore Austin Layton debate the need for increased skilled worker migration to the United States in the 21st century.

UGA LL, Austin Layton & Mike Lacy, was ranked 11th in the most recent college debate Coaches' Poll.

The poll is an aggregate ranking of coaches from around the country and Georgia's strong showing reflects continuing success at tournaments in the Fall 2010 semester.

UGA LL -- Austin Layton and Mike Lacy -- have been invited to the 39th Annual Kentucky Round Robin. This is a prestigious honor for the University of Georgia and reflects LL's ranking as a top-ten team in the preseason.

Want to join the UGA debate team?

Come to our weekly meeting and say hello!

We meet every week on Tuesday nights at 6:30pm in Phi Kappa Hall (located in the northeast corner of campus, near the the Jackson/Broad intersection). The debate office is the entire first floor. Come on in!

The 2010 Debaters' Choice Awards have named Mike Lacy (UGA '12) the Best Rising Junior in the United States.

The DCA is a result of student voting from all college debate teams and reflects the respect Mike has earned from his peers during his already highly successful career.

Senior Karen Harrison recently completed her college debate career at UGA. Originally from Celebration, Florida (home of Disney), she debated for Wake Forest University for two years before transferring to Georgia.

She finished with a very successful career, clearing at multiple national tournaments, capped off with wins over two first round at-large bid teams en route to the Quarterfinals of the 180+ team University of Texas tournament. Karen twice qualified to the NDT.

For those who haven't yet seen it, the Georgia Debate Union was recently featured in the New York Times for innovations related to paperless debate.

A full list of paperless resources is available after the jump.

Congratulations to graduating senior Brittany Cambre.

Originally from Alpharetta GA and the illustrious Chattahoochee High School, Cambre recently completed a 4 year career at UGA. Her senior year was highly successful: Brittany was in the Octafinals of the NDT, recieved the 10th overall First Round At-Large Bid to the NDT, was in the Semifinals of the University of Texas tournament, and reached the Quarterfinals of several other major national competitions.

Overall, this places Brittany at the top of her graduating class of seniors. Also, she was the first female UGA debater to recieve a first round, make an elim, and win an elim at UGA under the leadership of Dr. Panetta.

Please take the time to congratulate her!

Please congratulate Willy Zhang, this year's most improved debater in the Georgia Debate Union.

Willy, a freshman from Alpharetta, was given the title along with a handsome reward at Wednesday's squad meeting. He earned this distinction by being one of the hardest workers on the team and constantly seeking to contribute and improve.

Congrats, Willy!

*Not an April Fool's Day joke.

Notes:

1. Rounds will *START* at 8:00am. All debates will be in Park Hall. True of both Open and Novice.

2. Judges: report to Park Hall and pick up your ballot by **** 7:45 AM ****, or you may be replaced and your school charged for tournament-provided judging.

3. Open will clear to an Octa and Novice will clear to a Quarterfinal.

4. Awards will follow the first elimination debate.

Two University of Georgia teams will now be at the NDT.

UGA HL, senior Karen Harrison and freshman Austin Layton, have officially qualified to the 2010 National Debate Tournament, advancing from the tough District Six debate tournament.

After two days of competition, HL secured a solid 4-2 record, including wins over Emory and Wake Forest Universities. They will be joining UGA CL (Cambre and Lacy) at the NDT in Oakland, CA in mid-March.

The University of Georgia team of Brittany Cambre and Mike Lacy has been awarded a first round at-large bid to the 2010 National Debate Tournament, to be held in Oakland, CA in March. Recognizing UGA CL as one of the 16 top two-person debate teams in the country, recieving a "first round" is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in policy debate.

Two links to Red and Black stories about the upcomming UGA v PETA Debate. http://www.

I’m happy to congratulated Dr. Ed Panetta, Director of Debate, for being a winner of one of this year’s Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Awards.

The award is given annually to faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching, a sustained commitment to high-quality instruction, and who are particularly engaged in undergraduate teaching. The award is prestigious (only five are awarded in the Franklin College) and comes with a monetary prize!

A list of previous winners can be found here.

On October 15, the University Student Union at UGA hosted a public debate between Michael Waldman and Andrew Napolitano on the issue of abortion.  Waldman, who was Director of Speechwriting for President Clinton from 1995-1999, advocated abortion rights and Napolitano, former judge and law professor turned FOX News judicial analyst, advocated a ban on abortion.  As part of our public service and outreach mission, Dr. Ed Panetta, Director of the Georgia Debate Union, moderated the debate. Video after the jump.

We've launched a threaded comments system that will allow folks to have their own debates about our blog posts. You can not only post comments, but respond to the comments of others.

You can post anonymously if you like, or you can enter your name and homepage URL.  Those will display on the site.  If you enter your e-mail when you comment, it will not display on the site but we intend to deploy a notification system that will let you know when people have responded to your comment or the same blog post you expressed an interest in (or loathing for).

Coming a tournament near you! A new bumper sticker for the Georgia Debate Union. Like it?