Western Debate Union to Host National Debate Tournaments March 17-24

Contact: Steven Woods, director of Forensics, at steven.woods@wwu.edu or (360) 650-4879

BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University will host the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE) March 17-19 and the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) National Championship Tournament March 22-24 on the Western campus.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Western Debate Union, a co-curricular activity at Western, was awarded the hosting responsibilities through a competitive bid process. These tournaments will decide a champion for the NPTE’s yearlong process along with determining a National Champion for the overall governing body for schools that are members of the NPDA.

Traditionally the two tournaments are on different campuses in the attempt to coordinate geography to minimize travel.  However, this is the first year that both events will be on one campus. NPTE is comprised of 64 teams invited based on their performance at tournaments they have attended over the year.  The NPDA Championship is an open-invitation event that will include those that participated in the NPTE as well as those vying for the National Championship at large.  This year 154 teams from 49 colleges and universities will come to Western to compete in the NPDA.

Along with hosting, the Western Debate Union has qualified three teams to the NPTE event and will be entering seven teams into the NPDA.  Western has been among the top 20 programs nationally for the past 10 years, with a place in the top 10 for the past five years.

For more information regarding the debate tournaments, contact Steven Woods at steven.woods@wwu.edu or (360) 650-4879.