US Universities Debating Championship


The US Universities Debating Championship is the largest British Parliamentary debating tournament in the United States, and one of the largest debate tournaments in the World. The event is held for college and university students attending school in the United States, and is hosted by a different university each year. The host is selected by the member schools of the US Universities Debate Association. The event determines the National Champions for the year.
Most recently the tournament was hosted by Clemson University in April 2019. The current National Champions are Salil Mitra and Jenny Jiao from Duke University. The Novice division was won by Prinaya Choubey and Natasha Abrol from the University of Rochester. Ko Lyn Cheang of Yale University was the top individual speaker at the tournament;
Greg Weaving of Princeton University was top novice speaker..

Format

USUDC is held in a format based on the World Universities Debating Championship. The tournament is held in April, before most American colleges have their final exams. In recent years about 180 teams have competed at the tournament. Since 2015, only students registered at an American college or university may compete in playoff rounds and be made National Champion, but students from foreign schools can still compete. Before 2015, foreign schools were allowed to compete in playoffs, resulting in a 2012 championship where separate tournament champions and national champions were crowned.
Each team is made up of two students from the same college or university. In a given debate they will compete against three other teams. A motion, or proposition, is given to the teams fifteen minutes before the debate. Two teams are assigned to defend the motion, and two teams to oppose the motion. The teams are judged by a panel of judges who rank them from first place to fourth place and assign scores to each person based on the quality of their speech. In a debate, teams typically go against teams with similar records to themselves, based on a point system where first place is three points, second is two, third is one, and fourth is none. If a team had six points after three rounds, then they would typically compete against other teams with 6 points
After six or eight preliminary rounds there is a "break," announced at the banquet on the second day, and only the top thirty-two teams progress to the third day. On day three rounds are elimination rounds, the bottom two teams in a round do not progress. They begin with octofinals, then quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, and they name the National Champion. Seeding for octofinals is based on the cumulative points the team had at the end of preliminary rounds.
Novices, people in their first year of collegiate debate, have a separate break to novice quarterfinals should they not make the open octofinals. A Novice Champion is then named after the Novice Final. which follows after quarterfinals and semifinals.

US Universities Debate Association

The US Universities Debate Association is the body which governs USUDC. It was founded in 2013 in order to organize the British Parliamentary debate circuit in the United States. They select the host for the next USUDC each year. Membership in the USUDA is open to all colleges and universities in the United States.

Tournaments By Year

Harvard has won the Championship five times, Yale twice, and no other school more than once. In 2018, Harvard became the first school to defend the title.
YearHost InstitutionNational ChampionFinalist TeamsTop Speaker
2005Claremont McKenna CollegeMichael Rose & Tom Lassen, University of Alaska, AnchorageChris Kolerok & Rose Helens-Hart, University of Alaska, Anchorage; Martin Pinnes & Daniel Streim, Colgate University; Ashish Sinha & Michael Ferris, University of British ColumbiaJosh Martin, University of La Verne
2006Claremont McKenna CollegeSamuel Myat San & Alexander Schwab, Harvard UniversityTom Lassen & Chris Kolerok, University of Alaska, Anchorage; Adam Chilton & David Denton, Yale University, Chris Jones & Monica Ferris, Athabasca UniversityDavid Denton, Yale University
2007Claremont McKenna CollegeJosh Martin & Rob Ruiz, University of La VerneMatt Contreras & Courtney Crooks, Loyola Marymount University; Dan Adler & Eric Sanelle, Portland State University; Brian Kettles and Julie Liztwan, University of Alberta & University of CalgaryJulia Liztwan, University of Alberta
2008Portland State UniversityAlexander Schwab & Kevin Kiley, Loyola Marymount UniversityCharles Sprague & Kari Wohlschlegel, Claremont Colleges; Rob Ruiz & Thomas Allison, University of La Verne; Michael Imeson & James Kilcup, Seattle UniversityKari Wohlschlegel Claremont Colleges
2009University of VermontLewis Bollard & Ben Belser,Harvard UniversityMike Aguilera & Kevin Kiley, Loyola Marymount University; Robert Embree & Monica Ferris, Hart House; Doug Cochran & Daniel Warrents, Middle TempleDaniel Warrents, Middle Temple
2010Regis University & University of DenverCharlie Sprague & Jesse Katz-Blumenthal, Claremont CollegesAaron Baker & Lindsay Bing, Portland State University; Alex Campbell & Anish Mitra, Stanford University; Nate Blevins & Naz El-Khatib, Yale UniversityColin Haughey, University of Alaska, Anchorage
2011University of VermontCormac Early & Jo Box, Harvard UniversitySarah Carpenter & Amie Stanley, University of Alaska, Anchorage; Maxwell Dovala & Kate Falkenstein, Yale University; Angela Kintominas & David Maher, University of New South WalesCormac Early, Harvard University
2012Willamette UniversityTournament Champions: Christine Simpson & Michael O’Dwyer, University College, Dublin; National Champions: Buzz Klinger & Will McConnell, Hobart and William Smith CollegesMaxwell Dovala & Kate Falkenstein, Yale University; Kamya Chandra & Nipun Mahajan, St. John's UniversitySam Ward-Packard, Yale University
2013University of La VerneBen Kornfeld & Sam Ward-Packard, Yale UniversityChris Axtman & Megan Towles, Carroll College; Colin Etnire & Dearv O’Crowley Loyola Marymount University; Emma Pierson & Andrew Suciu, Stanford UniversityBen Kornfeld, Yale University
2014Purdue UniversityTaylor Blackburn & Jac Stewart, Bates CollegeKirat Singh & Srinath Reddy, Cornell University; Colin Etnire & Krikor Kouyoumdjian, Loyola Marymount University; Michael Barton & Sam Ward-Packard, Yale UniversityMichael Barton, Yale University & Sam Ward-Packard Yale University
2015University of Alaska, AnchorageTony Nguyen & Edwin Zhang, Yale UniversityTiffany Keung & Alex Mechanick, Brown University; Fanele Mashwama & Bo Seo Harvard University; Rodjé Malcolm & Emanuel Waddell, Morehouse CollegeMatt Summers, Bates College
2016Morehouse CollegeDrew Latimer & Jeremy Chen, Tufts UniversityDhruva Bhat & Danny DeBois, Harvard University; Evan Lynyak & Henry Zhang, Yale University; Harry Elliott & Taahir Munshi, Stanford UniversityHarry Elliott, Stanford University
2017Regis University & University of DenverArchie Hall & Alex Wu, Harvard UniversityDavid Slater & Elana Leone, Stanford University; Harry Elliot & Bobbi Leet, Stanford University; Daniel Stoyell & Rebecca Blair, Cornell UniversityZoë Seaman-Grant, Bates College
2018Stanford UniversityVedant Bahl & Mars He, Harvard UniversityBenjamin Muschol & Will Smith, Northeastern University; Harry Elliott & Bobbi Leet, Stanford University; William Arneson & Charlie Barton, Yale UniversityHarry Elliott, Stanford University
2019Clemson UniversityJenny Jiao & Salil Mitra, Duke UniversityAditya Dhar & Michel Nehme, Harvard University; Ko Lyn Cheang & Lorenzo Pinasco, Yale University; Harry Meadows & Abby Westberry, Bates CollegeKo Lyn Cheang, Yale University
2020Hobart and William Smith Colleges--
2021University of Chicago---