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History of the Georgia Debate Union

The Georgia Debate Union has been fielding competitive policy debate teams for over fifty years. The program had graduated debaters who have become productive scholars and citizens across several generations. We have compiled a partial list of alumni that you are welcome to peruse (view alumni). As one can see, Georgia debaters are a politically diverse group.

Based upon our limited records, the period between 1964 and 1977 was a remarkably successful one for University debaters. We have a complete record of trophies won during that period and many are stored in the University archive (view trophy list). The program was regularly in the late elimination round of national tournaments. And, UGA debaters qualified for the National Debate Tournament (NDT) on an annual basis. At that time, the team was housed in the Jasper Dorsey Room in the Geology and Geography building. Coaches during this period include Richard Huseman, John Hatfield, Chester Gibson, Merwin Hays, Bert Gross, Joe Luchock and Sandy Pence. We are very interested in filling in the history of Georgia Debate and would appreciate any information interested alumni can provide (contact information).

The program was largely a regional one between 1977 and 1987 and performed effectively during that time. In 1987, the Department of Speech Communication recommitted itself to competing at the highest levels. During the last seventeen years, Georgia Debate has qualified 30 teams for the NDT. Our teams are usually in the elimination of the national tournament. Their accomplishments during this period include debating in the finals, semi- finals, and quarterfinals of the tournament. Additionally, in 2003 UGA has the 17th team in the history of the NDT to compile an 8-0 record in the preliminary debates. The 2003 team, Powers and Ramachandrappa, join the Martinsons (1971) as UGA teams to achieve a perfect record in the preliminary debates. During the last seven years our students have won a variety of awards at some of the most rigorous events in the country (see below).

In 1993, the team moved its offices to Phi Kappa Hall from the Dorsey room. In the fall of 2004, Phi Kappa Hall will be renovated for the team (view new floor plans, image). UGA President, Dr. Michael Adams, is a former intercollegiate debater who facilitated the renovation of the office for our debaters.

Georgia's NDT Qualifiers
  • 1967
    • Marcia Mulkey and Skeet Muncie
  • 1968
    • Terry Brown and Mark Dickerson
  • 1969
    • Terry Brown and Steve McCurley*
  • 1970
    • Terry Brown and Steve McCurley
  • 1971
    • Pam Martinson and Tom Martinson*
  • 1972
    • Richard Bethea and Margaret Snyder
  • 1973
    • Richard Bethea and Don Cornwell*
  • 1974
    • Richard Bethea and Peter Quist
  • 1975
    • Richard Bethea and Donald Lively*
    • Don Cornwell and Bill Withrow
  • 1976
    • John Bow and Mark Brown
  • 1977
    • John Bow and Don Lively
  • 1990
    • Allison Ashe and Kelly Happe
  • 1991
    • Allison Ashe and Kelly Happe
  • 1992
    • Jeff Griswold and Leonard Neighbors*
  • 1993
    • Jeff Griswold and Leonard Neighbors
  • 1994
    • Paul Barsness and Leonard Neighbors*
    • Marcus Henson and Shunta' Jordan
  • 1995
    • Paul Barsness and Leonard Neighbors*
    • Michael Cates and Anne DeWolf
  • 1996
    • Paul Barsness and Michael Cates*
    • Bill Roberts and Nirav Dhruva
    • Chris McIntosh and J. Leighton Miller*
  • 1997
    • Paul Barsness and Daniel Davis*
    • Michael Cates and Chris McIntosh*
    • Bill Roberts and Jason Teagle
  • 1998
    • Michael Cates and Chris McIntosh*
    • Jason Teagle and Michael Matos
  • 1999
    • Chris McIntosh and Bill Roberts*
    • Wally Eastwood and Meredith Stein
  • 2000
    • Shawn Powers and Robbie Quinn
    • Wally Eastwood and Patricia Kelley
  • 2001
    • Shawn Powers and Robbie Quinn *
    • Adrianne Carr and Kate McGrath
  • 2002
    • Shawn Powers and Hays Watson
    • Michael Lee and Naveen Ramachandrappa
  • 2003
    • Shawn Powers and Naveen Ramachandrappa *
    • Tom Keane and Hays Watson *
    • Patricia Kelley and Adrianne Carr
  • 2004
    • Naveen Ramachandrappa and Hays Watson *
    • Brent Culpepper and Robbie Quinn
  • 2005
    • Brent Culpepper and Hays Watson
    • Todd Mitchell and Kevin Rabinowitz
  • 2006
    • Brent Culpepper and Kevin Rabinowitz
    • Todd Mitchell and Spencer Diamond
  • 2007
    • Brent Culpepper and Kevin Rabinowitz
    • Todd Mitchell and Spencer Diamond
* reflects debated in elimination rounds of the National Debate Tournament.

The National Debate Tournament is a qualifying event for the seventy-eight best policy debate teams in the country. Beginning in the 1990s, the rules of the tournament were amended to allow six universities to qualify up to three teams for the NDT.

Squad results (1997/1998 - 2003/2004)
1997-1998
1998-1999
1999-2000
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
Archived annual reports and newsletters

We have found a limited number of Georgia Debate annual reports and newsletters. If you have copies of other reports, we would like to have a copy to place on the page.

Archived trophy listing

A list of trophies that have been moved to the University archives is available. Many other trophies, dating back to the 1950s, are still housed in the debate office.

View the listing of the Debate Union's archived trophies [ link ]
2005 ADA tournament results
The results of the 2005 ADA tournament can be found here here.
This page was last updated: March 13th, 2007 at 20:53:46.