THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

Moody College of Communication
Department of Communication Studies, Forensics Programs
2504A Whitis Ave A1105 l Austin, Texas 78712-0115

The University of Texas speech & debate programs invite you and your students to attend the 25th Annual Longhorn Classic Tournament to be held on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin on December 1-3, 2023. The Longhorn Classic will be exclusively in-person.

In keeping with our commitment to a well-rounded forensics education, we will offer students the opportunity to compete in a variety of events, including both Championship and Novice Cross-Examination Debate, Championship and Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Championship Public Forum Debate, Championship World Schools Debate, multiple Speech categories, as well as the Longhorn Student Congress and NCFL style Oral Interpretation. The Longhorn Classic is a TOC qualifier in Extemporaneous Speaking, a qualifier for the NIETOC in all relevant categories, as well as a Kentucky TOC qualifier in all relevant debate and congress categories.

There will be six preliminary rounds in CCX,CLD and CPF, and five in CWS, NCX, and NLD. Individual events will feature three flighted patterns each with two preliminary rounds, followed by quarter-finals(top 24-32 students advancing depending on rank cutoffs, maximum of 50% in events under 48), semi-finals and finals. Due to logistical constraints and the massive size of the Longhorn Classic, we can not allow cross-over between individual events and the various debate categories (including Congressional Debate).

At the Longhorn Classic, the term "novice" denotes a high school student who entered their first NSDA format debate competition in Fall 2023. If a student's tabroom data has debate entries (CX/LD/PF/WSD) from Spring 2023 or earlier, that student is not a novice. Previous semester PF or WSD debaters transitioning to CX or LD are not novices. Students found to be in violation of this policy will be disqualified from the tournament without a refund. The tournament does not have the resources to check this in advance.

Only school sponsors/student chaperones should register. The tournament does not accept independent entries.

CCX - Quarters TOC Bid - 100 entry starting cap - 5 entries/school - Clear to Doubles (23/24 NSDA Topic)

NCX - 40 entry starting cap - 3 entries/school - Clear to Octos (23/24 NSDA Topic)

CLD - Quarters TOC Bid - 150 entry starting cap - 6 entries/school - Clear to Triples (Nov/Dec NSDA Topic)

NLD - 40 entry starting cap - 3 entries/school - Clear to Octos (Nov/Dec NSDA Topic)

CPF - Semis Gold TOC Bid - 100 entry starting cap - 5 entries/school - Clear to Doubles (Nov/Dec NSDA Topic)

CWS - 26 entry starting cap - 3 entries/school - Clear to Octos (TFA Sep-Nov prepared motions)

Congress - Tier 2 TOC Bid - 100 entry cap - 5 entries/school

Entry caps are based on available rooms. Additional entries may be placed on the waitlist and we will pull in as many as our logistics allow.

IE Contestants may enter two events from each pattern.

Pattern A: Dramatic Interp, Foreign Extemp, Informative Speaking

Pattern B: Humorous Interp, Oral Interp (Prose/Poetry), US Extemp

Pattern C: Duo Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, Original Oratory

We look forward to hosting from Austin once again for one of the largest and most competitive tournaments in the country.

Sincerely,