Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue

We are heartbroken about the passing of Kate Shuster, ’96 this week. From her undergraduate days at Emory to her professional career as an education researcher, author and project manager who wrote influential reports about the state of history education, Kate was always inquisitive, intelligent, and committed to social justice. As a highly competitive debater – and, along with partner David Heidt ,’96, Emory’s first National Debate Tournament champion – Kate knew the impact debate could have and worked to ensure all students had access to the benefits of debate participation and mentored Barkley Forum students and staff over the years. We were thankful Kate joined us for the BF alum reception during the 2024 NDT, where she was honored along with Kacey Wolmer, ‘04 as the recipient of the 2024 Warren Akin Outstanding Alumni Contributions award. Here is a link to her remarks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T07j-MArVI

Our most sincere condolences go out to her husband Stephen Stetson and her family and friends. May her memory be a blessing and may her life encourage us to stand up to give voice to the voiceless.

Congratulations to BF competitive team student Grace for earning the 2024 Emory University McMullan Award!

Debater and community leader Grace Kessler honored with McMullan Award | Emory University | Atlanta GA Emory College student Grace Kessler has a stellar record of academic excellence, a legacy of community-building leadership and immense potential for positive impact in the world. And, she’s one of nation’s best collegiate debaters.

2023-2024 Barkley Forum End of Year Banquet Awards 🏆

Warren Akin Award for Outstanding Alumni Contributions: Kacey Wolmer & Kate Shuster
Barkley Forum Faculty Scholar: Dr. Dan Reiter
Barkley Forum Rising Star: Madeleine Pelli
Ben Pius Award for Selfless Service to the Barkley Forum: Thomas Wainwright
Bill Brewster Award for Sustained Excellence in Debate: Henry Mitchell & Grace Kessler
Earned Collaborative Discussions Certification certificates: Salaam Awad, Andrew Burchett, Jin Namgoong, Logan Viera, Thomas Wainwright
Interactivity Foundation Student Facilitator certificate: Matthea Boon
Melissa Maxcy Wade Award for the Use of Speech as a Public Good: Jin Namgoong & Kristopher Wallen
Melissa Maxcy Wade Debater of the Year: Grace Kessler & Shreyas Rajagopal
Outstanding Oxford Continuees: Dantrell Cheng, Emma Chen, Katie Hu, & Karina Volkov
Alex Zavell Award for Exemplary Engagement in the Barkley Forum: Don Pierce

2024 National Debate Tournament (NDT) Results

The Barkley Forum had 6 varsity debaters competing at the NDT hosted on campus at Emory this weekend.

Grace & Shreyas captured the Rex Copeland Memorial Award - an award presented annually to the collegiate debate team ranked Number One in the First Round At-Large team selections.

4 BF debaters earned individual speaker awards. Bella was 22nd, Henry 14th, Shreyas 2nd, and Grace was the TOP speaker!

2024 is the third consecutive year a debater from Emory won the top speaker award at the NDT.

All 6 debaters advanced to elimination rounds. Henry & Bella were quarterfinalists (Elite 8!) Danny, Margaret, Grace, and Shreyas were semifinalists (Final Four!)

Tonight at the pre-tournament awards ceremony for the National Debate Tournament, BF students Grace & Shreyas were awarded the Rex Copeland Memorial Award - an award presented annually to the collegiate debate team ranked “Number One” in the First Round, At-Large team selections.

2024 CEDA Results 🏆

Congrats to BF varsity debaters Don & Kris for finishing as Semi-finalists (Final 4!) at the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) Nationals! Great work Emory PW!

Both also won top 20 speaker awards. Don was 15th speaker & Kris was 10th speaker!

Don was also recognized as a 2024 CEDA National Debate Scholar!

Pictured here: BF varsity team member and graduating senior Kris Wallen.

The BF has 2 varsity debaters competing at this weekend's Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) Nationals hosted by California State University at Fullerton.
Wish Don & Kris (Emory PW) luck!

Congrats to BF varsity debaters Bella, Don, Dylan, Grace, Henry, Margaret, Miranda, and Shreyas who were named 2024 CEDA National Debate Scholars - an annual award for juniors & seniors who maintain strong academic records in addition to their competitive debate accomplishments.

Congrats to BF varsity debaters Henry & Shreyas (both graduating seniors) who were named 2024 Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) All-Americans tonight - an annual award that recognizes CEDA debaters who represent the best of intercollegiate debate - competitive success, academic success, good conduct, & contributions to their squad.

Come see the displays and have your voices heard regarding the Twin Memorials, which will be constructed on campus.

2024 American Debate Association (ADA) Nationals Results

The BF brought 9 varsity debaters to ADA Nationals.

3 BF debaters won top 25 speaker awards -Coralynn - 23rd, Jared - 21st, Kris - 16th

Don & Kris won 2nd place in the Varsity division Front Royal Cup - This award recognizes 2-person teams in each division (Novice, JV, Varsity) with the strongest tournament results during the invitational season.

Kris was also a finalist for the 2024 Julia Burke award.

Elimination round appearances:
*Double octa-finalists (top 32) - Don & Kris (Emory PW), Lucas & Coralynn (Emory LY)
*Octa-finalists (top 16) - Serena & Jared (Emory RS)

Pictured here: Students Don, Coralynn, Adhitya, Kris, and coach Gabriel.

The BF has 9 varsity debaters competing at the 2024 American Debate Association (ADA) Nationals hosted by our friends at Indiana Debate - wish Coralynn, Serena, Jared, Lucas, Don, Kris, Adhitya, Aadi, and Conor luck! (Pictured here: Conor & Aadi)

BF Alum Julie Hoehn (08C) visited campus today for 2024 NDT Alumni reception preparations. Pictured here: Julie with the NDT championship trophy she & Aimi Hamraie (07C) won in 2007.

Congratulations to 4 BF varsity debaters on their qualification to the 2024 National Debate Tournament!

Emory KR captured 1ST PLACE at the 2024 Texas Open college tournament this weekend hosted by UT-Austin.

Overall, 22 BF varsity debaters competed at the Texas Open.

14 varsity BF debaters advanced to elimination rounds.

Emory KL (Aaron & Lucas) were triple octa-finalists. Emory CD (Clara & Sonya), RS (Jared & Serena), PW (Don & Kris), and MP (Henry & Bella) were double octa-finalists (Top 32 overall!).
Emory GH (Danny & Margaret) were octa-finalists (Top 16 overall!).

6 BF debaters earned Top 30 speaker awards. Henry was 26th, Bella 22nd, Danny 16th, Margaret 15th, Shreyas 3rd, & Grace 2nd.

We had a wonderful time hosting the 69th annual BFHS tournament at Emory this past weekend. Click the video link to watch the final round in Pelham debate between Taipei American and Liberal Arts and Sciences!

2024 Thomas Glenn Pelham Silver Key Debate Taipei American LY vs LASA BD in the final round of the 69th annual Barkley Forum for High Schools at Emory University

Congratulations to the new inductees of the Gold Key Society of the Barkley Forum!

Congratulations to !

Congratulations!

Congratulations are also in order for Jon Ossoff, this year's Georgia Speaker of the Year!

Congratulations, Michi!

This weekend 6 BF varsity debaters travelled to round robin tournaments. Grace & Shreyas represented Emory at the Herbert L James Debates at Dartmouth (“Dartmouth Round Robin”), in Hanover, NH. Grace & Shreyas both captured speaker awards – Shreyas was 4th and Grace was 3rd! Don, Kris, Henry, and Bella represented Emory at the Rutgers University Newark Brick City Round Robin (“Rutgers Round Robin”), in Newark, NJ. All 4 earned speaker awards. Bella 17th, Henry 11th, Don 6th, and Kris 5th. Kris and Don were semifinalists (top 4 overall!).

The BF brought 10 debaters to the 2024 Crowe Warken Debates at the US Naval Academy.

8 varsity debaters achieved elimination rounds - Miranda & Sohan were Octa-finalists, Dylan & Michi were Quarterfinalists, Jared & Serena were Semi-finalists. Don & Kris captured 1st place!!!

In addition, all 10 debaters earned top 25 speaker awards.

In Junior varsity:
Dantrell - 18th 🏆
Madeleine - 13th 🏆

In Varsity:
Dylan - 23rd 🏆
Michi - 18th 🏆
Sohan - 14th 🏆
Jared - 13th 🏆
Miranda - 11th 🏆
Serena - 8th 🏆
Don - 2nd 🏆
Kris - 1st 🏆 🚨 Top Speaker 🚨

The BF brought 10 varsity debaters to the 2024 Kathryn Klassic at the Beach hosted by CSU Long Beach this week. 3 debaters took home top 10 speaker awards.

Shreyas - 11th 🏆
Henry - 10th 🏆
Grace - 3rd 🏆

4 BF teams advanced to elimination rounds. Emory HG (Margaret & Danny), Emory PW (Don & Kris), and Emory MP (Henry & Bella) were Octa-finalists. Emory KR (Grace & Shreyas) captured 1st place!

RESULTS

The BF competitive brought 6 varsity debaters to compete at the 2024 Sunflower Swing tournament (part 1) hosted by the University of Kansas this week. All captured top 25 individual speaker awards: Adhitya - 23rd, Dylan - 21st, Michi - 20th, Jared - 15th, Clara - 13th, Coralynn - 3rd !

Two pairs achieved the elimination rounds - Coralynn & Michi were octafinalists! Clara & Jared were quarterfinalists! Dylan & Adhitya had a record to advance to elimination rounds but just barely missed on speaker points.

Wish us luck in the second half of the Kansas Swing (hosted by Kansas State University) later this week!

BF Sugarfest 2023 🍪

BF staff participating in an staff gingerbread home contest today!

The BF competitive team brought 29 varsity debaters to the 2023 Franklin R. Shirley debate tournament hosted by Wake Forest University this weekend.

Many BF debaters reached elimination rounds. Margaret, Danny, Don & Kris were double octa-finalists (top 32 overall), Henry & Bella were quarterfinalists (top 8 overall), and Grace & Shreyas captured 1st place!

Many BF debaters also earned top 25 individual speaker awards. Kris was 24th, Bella 21st, Shreyas 18th, Henry 12th, & Grace 2nd!

This was BF debaters Doussou, Junkai, & Dylan’s first tournament competing in the varsity division.

The BF brought 10 debaters to the 2023 Harvard Debate Tournament (and costume contest) this weekend.

In varsity, Henry & Bella were octa-finalists (sweet 16 overall!) and Grace & Shreyas were finalists (earned 2nd place overall!)

Many BF varsity debaters earned individual speaker awards. Danny was 29th, Bella 26th, Henry 16th, Shreyas 8th, and Grace 2nd!