Debate

The University of North Texas Debate Team is committed to excellence in public policy debate at the national and regional levels. The UNT Debate Team, directed by Brian Lain, participates actively in the NDT (National Debate Tournament) and CEDA (Cross-Examination Debate Association) and attends 15-20 tournaments each year, including: Wake Forest, Northwestern, Southern California, Central Oklahoma, Georgia State, West Georgia, and Baylor. Since 1983, North Texas has qualified for the NDT in 19 of the 20 years. In 1962, the North Texas team of Anne Hodges and John Swaney finished as a quarterfinalist. In 1986, the team of Matt Caligur and Keith Woods finished as an octafinalist.

In 1997, UNT was one of only eight colleges and universities in the nation to be represented in the elimination rounds of the National Debate Tournament and the CEDA national tournament. At the NDT, the North Texas team of Eli Holloway and Cody Morrow advanced to the first elimination round (the round of 32 teams). Two weeks later at the CEDA national tournament, Holloway and Morrow defeated teams from Florida State, Arizona State, and UM-KC before losing in the quarterfinals. UNT debater Cody Morrow was named to the All American Debate Team at the CEDA national tournament and is currently an assistant coach for UNT.

In Spring 1998, for the first time in its history, UNT received a first-round at-large invitation to the National Debate Tournament. Holloway and Morrow earned this prestigious on the basis of their win-loss record at major national tournaments during the year. As a result of this honor, UNT entered the 1998 National Debate Tournament (on the campus of the University of Utah) ranked as one of the top 16 teams in the nation. Prior to attending the NDT, Holloway and Morrow competed in the CEDA national tournament at the University of Rochester.  

For the first time in the history of the debate program, UNT will be teaming up with the University of Texas at Dallas to host the Texas Two Step, a college swing tournament.  From January 3-5 the UNT Debate Team will host college debaters from as far away as Vermont and as close as Baylor to compete in a national debate tournament.  Immediately following the UNT tournament the University of Texas at Dallas will host a second tournament to allow college teams to participate in two tournaments over the period of one week.  

Brian Lain, the Director of Debate and Forensics at UNT, is a full-time faculty member in the Department of Communication Studies, and he directs a staff of assistant coaches that include: Casey Kelly, Travis Neal, Cody Morrow, and John Hines.  All of the assistant coaches are active in research, coaching, judging, and travel. The debate team enjoys the support of the students, the faculty, and the university administration. 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

Participation on the North Texas Debate Team is open to all undergraduate students in the university