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In additional to tournament travel, the UNT Debate Team participates in a variety of other activities, including hosting a high school tournamnent, the Texas Tournament of Champions (TTOC). This tournament is a qualifier for the national Tournament of Champions, and the top speaker award at the TTOC is named in honor of Jim Wright, former speaker of the United States House of Representatives. At the 1995 TTOC, Speaker Wright attended the tournament and presented the top speaker award at the awards assembly. The UNT Debate Team also hosts an invitational college tournament, the William DeMougeot Debates.
Dr. Mark DeLoach, the Director of Debate and Forensics at UNT, is a full-time faculty member in the Department of Communication Studies at UNT. Part of his duties involve administering the activities of the UNT Debate Team. This degree of institutional support is unparalleled at state institutions in Texas. Dr. DeLoach directs a staff of assistant debate coaches who are active in research, coaching, judging, and travel. UNT also employs a full-time research assistant for the debate team, a feature found at only a handful of universities across the nation.
The UNT Debate Team enjoys the support of the students, the faculty, and the university administration. Consequently, the debate team's activities are enthusiastically funded by the university. At UNT, the Debate Team is an integral part of the Department of Communication Studies, and the department chair, Dr. John Gossett, is a former director of debate at UNT. Unlike many institutions, the UNT Debate Team covers all travel expenses and supplies for student debaters. In addition, scholarship funds are available to assist student debaters with financing a college education. While most of our debaters were active in policy debate in high school, several successful members of the squad participated in Lincoln-Douglas debate in high school.
Office: (940) 565-2588
Fax: (940) 565-3630
E-Mail: deloach@unt.edu
