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The National Debate Tournament one of the national championships for collegiate policy debate in the United States. The tournament is sponsored by the American Forensic Association with the Ford Motor Company Fund. Starting in 2004, College Sports TV has produced a documentary of the NDT. Michigan State University won the 2006 NDT, beating Wake Forest University.
History of the NDT
The National Debate Tournament (NDT) began in 1947 at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Twenty-nine schools competed at the first NDT debating: "Resolved: That labor should be given a direct share in the management of industry". It remained at West Point until 1967 when it was assumed by the American Forensic Association in part because of the Vietnam War.Since then the tournament has moved to different member schools each year and only three schools have hosted it twice. [http://www.wfu.edu/organizations/NDT/Articles/ndtintro.html
In the first NDT, teams were nominated by committees from their district. This was soon replaced with district qualifying tournaments. At-large bids were offered beginning in 1968 and in 1971 the rules were amended to assign at large bids prior to district qualifying tournaments (to prevent at-large teams from knocking out teams in qualifiers) Until 1970, a school could only send one team to the NDT. When the rule was changed the tournament quickly grew to 74 teams. A limited number of schools were allowed to send a third team since 1992.
Mutual preference judging (MPJ) is a relatively recent addition to the NDT. Under MPJ, each debate team ranks the judging pool according to their preferences and judges are selected such that both teams prefer the chosen judge equally (if possible). Attempts are made to place as many mutual "1"s (the highest rating) in rounds, with preference given to the teams with the best record.
Traditions
- "The Big Board": Started at the first NDT, complete results for each team are listed on the "Big Board" in the central area, horse-race style.
- Orally announcing pairings: Started at the first NDT, the pairings for each round are read outloud to the contestants. A poll conducted at the 2005 NDT showed strong support for continuing this tradition.
- Cadet escourts: Cadets at the USMA escourt debaters to their rounds and carry their tubs. Although this tradition was discontinued when the NDT moved from the USMA, it has reemerged at the regular season tournament hosted by the USMA.
External links
"National Debate Tournament"