National Speech and Debate Association
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| Nonprofit organization | |
| Founded | 1925 |
| Headquarters | West Des Moines, IA (formerly Ripon, WI) |
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Key people
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Donald Eugene Crabtree, President Pam Cady Wycoff, Vice President J. Scott Wunn, Executive Director |
| Website | speechanddebate.org |
The National Speech and Debate Association, formerly the National Forensic League, is an interscholastic speech and debate organization serving the middle school, high school, and college students in the United States. The Association provides competitive speech and debate activities, resources, training, scholarship opportunities, and advanced recognition.
The National Speech and Debate Association is the oldest and largest high school speech and debate honor society in the world. It is one of four major national organizations that direct high school competitive speech and debate events in the United States. The others are the National Catholic Forensic League or NCFL, the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association or NCFCA, and Stoa.
The National Speech and Debate Association Board of Directors meets semi-annually for rules revision.
On May 17, 2013, the National Forensic League Board of Directors voted to change the name of the organization to the National Speech and Debate Association.
Members of the National Speech & Debate Association are expected to abide by the Code of Honor, adopted on September 23, 2007. The Code of Honor was initially proposed by Harold Keller, a member of the Board of Directors, in recognition of the Honor Society nature of the League. The Code of Honor consists of an oath and five tenets.
Bruno E. Jacob, a professor at Ripon College, first envisioned the League after receiving a letter that inquired whether an honor society existed for high school debaters. Noting that no such society existed, Jacob drafted and circulated a proposal for what would become America's oldest and largest high school debate and speech honor society. The League welcomed its first member school on March 28, 1925.
The National Forensic League grew in both membership and organization during the next few years. In 1926, the League chartered 100 high schools. In 1927, it began publishing The Bulletin, a newsletter that served as the forerunner to today’s Rostrum magazine. Chapter manuals, jeweled insignia pins, and other organizational items emerged during this time. One of the most significant changes came in 1930, when Jacob proposed a national speech tournament for League members. The following year, the first National Tournament was held at Ripon College, with 49 schools from 17 states competing. A school from Miami, Oklahoma, won the first national championship in high school debate.
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