Shelby Debate Saved for This Year

This past June, the Shelby Debate Society was hit with some startling news – our non-profit board had decided to cease league operations. This was a shock to all the coaches and students who have participated in the league, past and present. We had no warning, no ask for help, and felt abandoned. As a coach, this team feels like my at school family. We put in hundreds of hours each year and the kids feel very passionately about this activity and were devastated to hear it was ending.

Fortunately, a group of coaches, parents and students jumped into action. We refused to let the league die. Working all summer with the help of district personnel and school board members, we were able to work out an arrangement to partner with the school district to keep the league going with district funding for the coming year.

I’m very excited to announce that we will be hosting our first tournament two Saturday’s from now on October 3^rd. This is a dream come true not only for me but for the hundreds of students who will benefit from being able to sharpen their wit and intellect through the activity of policy debate. Shelby County offers very few other opportunities of similar quality for strong academic students and I’m thrilled that we get to keep this one.

I want to specifically thank board members Kevin Woods, Chris Caldwell, Miska Clay-Bibbs, Mike Kernell, Supt. Hopson and Dr. Roderick Richmond for taking an interest in the league and working hard with us to figure out a way to keep things going by partnering with the district. I also want to thank the number of district personnel who have helped us get to this point that I don’t even know about but specifically Denise Swan, who has been helping with logistics on the district end.

I also want to thank a few folks who are not in Memphis – the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues staff and the directors of the St. Louis, Atlanta, Boston and Milwaukee UDL leagues. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to put together the details necessary to keep this thing going.

Perhaps most important of all, I want to thank the numerous coaches, parents and students whose outpouring of passion helped us to believe that this program was worth saving. I’m looking forward to an exciting year and to hopefully continuing to offer debate to Shelby County students for years and years to come.

FYI if you want to judge, email me at jalfuth@tscsmemphis.org. Please contact me ASAP as we need judges by Tuesday at the latest.

Jon Alfuth, BCE Editor and Debate Coach