The UNI Debate Team

The debate team at UNI competes in two person, policy debate. Each year, a topic is selected that teams from schools around the country debate. After researching the topic, teams from UNI travel to other universities to compete against teams from other schools. Topics about which we have debated recently include: amending Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to increase protections against race and/or gender discrimination, increasing security assistance to Southeast Asia , increasing regulations on environmental pollutants, and amending the federal sentencing guidelines. This year's topic is "Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should increase its constructive engagement with the government of one or more of: Afghanistan , Iran , Lebanon , the Palestinian Authority, and Syria , and it should include offering them a security guarantee(s) and/or a substantial increase in foreign assistance."

Members of the team travel to a variety of regional and national tournaments, between 5 and 12 tournaments a year, depending on skill, experience, and work level. In the past, UNI has attended tournaments at: Harvard University, Northwestern University , Southwest Missouri State , Augustana College and many others. Our teams also consistently compete at the National Debate Tournament. All expenses for tournament travel are paid by the debate program.

In addition to providing monetary support for tournament travel, UNI is able to offer an array of scholarships to debaters as a means to defray tuition expenses. Visit the Scholarships page to learn more.

If you have any questions about the debate program at UNI, please feel free to contact Cate Palczewski at 319.273.2714, or by e-mail at palczewski@uni.edu