Today, the NFHS announced the results of the first round of balloting for the 2022-2023 high school policy debate resolution:

The National Federation of State High School Associations recently tabulated debate ballots from 34 states, Washington D.C., the National Speech and Debate Association, the National Debate Coaches Association, the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, and the National Catholic Forensic League. The returned ballots narrowed the five proposed topics to two for placement on the final ballot to select the 2022-2023 national high school debate topic. The five topic areas were ranked 1-5 with the two topic areas receiving the lowest totals – Climate Change and Emerging Technologies – placed on the final ballot. On January 10, 2022, the NFHS will announce the preferred topic area and resolution after states and national organizations are able to place a final vote. The 2022-2023 national high school debate topic and resolution will be posted on the NFHS Speech and Debate webpage and sent to state associations and affiliate members.

The final ballot will include the following two resolutions:

1. Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its support of multilateral greenhouse gas emission reduction regimes.

2. Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its security cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in one or more of the following areas: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) recently released the slate of potential policy debate topics for the 2022-2023 season. They were developed in early August at the NFHS Policy Debate Topic Selection Meeting in Milwaukee. The NFHS describes the selection process as follows:

Forty-seven delegates from 19 states, the National Speech and Debate Association, the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, the National Catholic Forensic League and the National Debate Coaches Association attended the NFHS Policy Debate Topic Selection Meeting August 6-8, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ten topic reports were presented by authors who, for the past 8+ months, researched each topic area.

State delegates and participants deliberated for three days to determine the final five topic areas: Global Climate Change, Global Geo-Political Crisis: Emerging Technologies, Global Health Security, Russia, and Treaties.

Serving on the 2021 Wording Committee were: Nicole Cornish, Texas (Chairperson); Dustin Rimmey, Kansas; Jennifer LeSieur, Oregon; Colton Gilbert, Arkansas; Sam Normington, Washington; Eric Oddo, Illinois; and Colleen Mooney, Pennsylvania.

Balloting for the 2022-23 national high school debate topic will take place in a two-fold process. During the months of September and October, coaches and students will have the opportunity to discuss the five selected problem areas. The first ballot will narrow the topics to two. A second ballot will be distributed to determine the final topic. Each state, the NSDA, the NAUDL, NCFL and the NDCA will conduct voting in November and December to determine the favored topic area. In January, the NFHS will announce the 2022-23 national high school debate topic and resolution. It will be posted on the NFHS website on the Speech, Debate, Theatre page and sent to state associations and affiliate members.

Identifying problem areas and crafting resolutions is extremely difficult. Because the policy debate topic is adopted nationally, it must meet the needs of diverse constituencies. Developing a topic that creates student interest and promotes high-quality debates for both “classic”-style circuits who rely on lay judges and national circuit-style circuits who rely on professional judges is nearly impossible.

Unsurprisingly, then, gripes abound every year when the slate of potential topics is announced. Many debaters and coaches go even farther, arguing that the entire topic selection process is broken beyond repair and must be immediately overhauled. While some reforms might indeed be beneficial, it is hard to believe that any topic selection system could ever achieve widespread (much less universal) support. There are hundreds of issues that merit selection as a national debate topic, but only one issue is selected for each season. Inevitably, this will disappoint more people than it pleases.

Given this challenge, I think the topic process actually tends to work remarkably well. I am grateful for the (mostly unpaid) labor that so many coaches provide throughout the process. Without their hard work producing well-researched topic papers and carefully crafted resolutional wordings, our topics would be significantly worse.

Below the fold, I will offer a few preliminary thoughts about each of the 2022-2023 proposed topics.

This year’s Glenbrooks will feature a free Space Policy Forum on Friday night. Tara Tate—Director of Debate at Glenbrook South and Co-Director of The Glenbrooks—announced the forum today:

The Glenbrooks is pleased to present, in conjunction with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as the National Forensic League, a Space Policy Forum open to all and free of charge. The forum will be held on Friday, November 18th at 7pm in the Ravinia Room at the Hyatt Deerfield. This panel is a must-see for any policy debater or coach who is interested in expert advice on this year’s topic. Current members of the panel include:

• Dr. Stanley G. Rosen, former Director of Strategic Development and Integration for Boeing Satellite Systems, now a consultant to the Tofler Associates. Dr. Rosen was also the coach of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s debate team in the 1970’s.
• AIAA Public Policy, Space Portfolio Manager, Ross G. Bell. Ross will discuss the nature of space policy as it relates to the appropriations committees and other public policy implications.
• Chelsey Robinson, Southern Illinois University. Chelsea will be speaking to the role of the life sciences in space exploration/development, both as a reality and as a consideration for debaters debating colonization and long-range exploration cases.

Additional forum members will be announced on the Glenbrooks Joy of Tournament web site. Please arrive a few minutes before 7pm to ensure that seating is available. The formal presentation will conclude with a Q/A opportunity for students and coaches to ask specific questions of the experts.

If you’ll be at the Glenbrooks, this is a must-see event.

The National Federation of High Schools has announced the final two topic candidates for the 2012-2013 season. Based on voting by states and national organizations, the candidates are infrastructure and immigration:

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its transportation infrastructure investment in the United States.

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its legal protection of economic migrants in the United States.

Thoughts?

Each year at the Heart of Texas Invitational at the St. Mark’s School of Texas, two special awards are given to deserving students and coaches: the Senior Speaker Award and the Acolyte Award. This year’s recipients were Evan McCarty of Mountain Brook High School and Jon Voss of Glenbrook South High School, respectively. A list of the past recipients of these awards is available below the fold.

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So far this season, 55 bids to the Tournament of Champions have been earned by policy teams at qualifying tournaments. Rohan Sadagopal of Edina High School and the University of Minnesota is curating a comprehensive record of this year’s bids using a publicly-accessible Google Doc. To make it easier to remember, you can access the document via toc.the3nr.com. Bids that have been officially certified are posted on the TOC website.