The Denison University Debate Team cordially invites you to attend the 1st Annual Big Red Classic held virtually on January 25th and 26th. This is Denison's first time hosting a debate tournament, so I hope you'll join us for a weekend full of community and competition!

Events

This tournament will offer one-vs-one IPDA debate, NFA LD debate and NPDA parliamentary debate. We will offer Novice, Junior and Open divisions for each event. All competitors, regardless of experience, are eligible to compete in the Open divisions of any event; what constitutes a Novice and JV competitor is as follows:

IPDA: Novice - any student who has competed in fewer than eight debate tournaments across high school and college; Junior - any student who has competed in eight debate tournaments beyond their novice eligibility OR has competed in 16 debate tournaments at the college level

NFA LD: Novice - any student in their very first year of forensic competition across high school and college; Junior - any student in their first two years of forensic competition across high school and college

NPDA: Novice - any student with no more than two semesters of high school debate experience, who is in their first two semesters of collegiate debate and has no won more than six elimination rounds; Junior - any student in their first four semesters of collegiate debate who has not won more than six elimination rounds in Junior or Open (including BYEs)

Breakout Brackets

If we must collapse divisions, we will first attempt to collapse Novice into JV. If all divisions must be collapsed into Open in an event, we will host a Novice breakout semifinal bracket as well as recognize the top 5 Novice speakers in that event. To qualify, competitors must be classified as novices on Tabroom by school staff prior to the start of Open elimination rounds.

Novice semifinals and finals will run alongside Open quarterfinals and semifinals so that competitors may watch Open finals if they so desire. Competitors that have qualified to compete in the Open division elimination rounds will not be eligible for the Novice breakout bracket regardless of their classification.

Event Specifics

IPDA:

- Competitors will have 30 minutes of prep time prior to the start of each round.

- The negative debater begins topic strike.

- No topic areas. We will attempt to host 6 prelim rounds; this number will be changed based on entry.

- We will break all winning records.

- Judge strikes will not be available.

NFA LD:

- Competitors will have 15 minutes between pairings and the start of each round.

- We will attempt to host 6 prelim rounds; this number will be changed based on entry.

- We will break all winning records.

- Judge strikes will be available if possible.

- Elimination round brackets will not be broken. Unless otherwise communicated, tab will advance the higher seeded debater.

NPDA:

- Competitors will have 30 minutes of prep time prior to the start of each round.

- No topic areas. We will attempt to host 5 prelim rounds; this number will change based on entry.

- Hybrid teams are allowed.

- We will break all winning records.

- Judge strikes will be available if possible.

- Elimination round brackets will be broken.

Fees & Judge Obligations

***Denison University is a student-run debate program. We do not anticipate being able to hire judges, so please bring enough judges to cover your entry commitments; we have made the non-covered fees high to encourage you to bring enough judges. In the event your program cannot afford entry fees or arrange judges, please reach out to Dalton via email at dalton.r.richardson@gmail.com.***

IPDA & NFA LD

- Entry fees: $20/competitor

- Judge Obligations: Each judge covers 3 prelim rounds. Each judge is committed through the first elimination round or the round after their school is eliminated from the tournament, whichever happens last. Each non-covered entry will incur a $75/competitor fee per round.

NPDA

- Entry fees: $40/team

- Judge Obligations: Each judge covers 2 teams. Each judge is committed through the first elimination round or the round after their school is eliminated from the tournament, whichever happens last. Uncovered entries will incur a $150/team fee per round.