About Us > Our Teams

The Stanford Debate Society is active on the intercollegiate circuits of APDA (American Parliamentary Debate Association) and NDT (National Debate Tournament).


American Parliamentary Debating Association

The Stanford Debate Society's APDA team is scheduled to attend the following tournaments for the 2008-2009 academic year:

  • October 10-11: Harvard
  • October 26-27: Yale IV
  • October 31-November 1: Brown
  • November 7-8: Penn (ProAm)
  • November 14-15: Cornell
  • January 9-10: Middlebury
  • January 16-17: Dartmouth
  • January 23-24: Amherst (NorthAms)
  • January 30-31: NYU
  • February 20-21: Boston University
  • February 27-28: Bates
  • March 6-7: Stanford
  • March 13-14: MIT
  • March 27-28: Princeton
  • April 3-4: University of Chicago
  • April 10-11: Swarthmore/Williams
  • April 17-18: Amherst/UMCP
  • April 24-25: Mount Holyoke (Nationals)

Stanford's APDA team also plans to enter into the APDA National Tournament to be held at the end of April. While every APDA member school receives a bid for one team to Nationals, additional teams may qualify by reaching the final round of a scheduled tournament. Our goal is to qualify as many teams as possible in order to represent Stanford well on the national debate circuit.

Please check the APDA Website for updated schedules and information on the style, members, bylaws, etc. of APDA.

Stanford Debate Society is also pleased to host its own APDA college debate tournament every year in March. Members of the Stanford Debate Society are expected to help prepare for and judge at the tournament.


National Debate Tournament Policy Debate

The Stanford Debate Society includes a small but strong policy debate component. Over the past few years, the Stanford policy debate has grown, recently seeing multiple successes at tournaments across the country. Stanford policy debaters compete on both the NDT (National Debate Tournament) and CEDA (Cross Examination Debate Assocation) circuits, all over the country.

Policy debate on the college level is very similar to that on the high school level, involving two-person teams and being evidence-based. The tournaments are on weekends and involve over-night stays. During the 2007-2008 academic year, the policy team will attend the following tournaments:

  • October 19-21: Pepperdine
  • October 27-29: Harvard
  • November 10-12: Wake Forest
  • December 29-31: USC
  • January 02-04: CSU-Fullerton
  • January 12-14: UC Berkeley
  • March 01-03: Novice/JV Nationals at Towson
  • March 20-24: CEDA Nationals at Wichita
  • March 28-31: NDT at Fullerton

Coach contact information: Erik Holland and Corey Turoff

Coach Biography:
Erik Holland: Bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of Southern California. A variety of college debate accolades including elimination rounds of almost every major national tournament including quarterfinalist at the CEDA nationals tournament. Erik now coaches the Stanford policy team as well as working on the high school level, serving as an assistant coach at the Head Royce school in Oakland.


British Parliamentary Debate

  • October 26-27: Yale IV
  • November 7-8: Oxford IV
  • December 27-January 3: Worlds at University College Cork in Ireland