SDI Faculty

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Brett Bricker - Debater, University of Kansas- An NDT quarterfinalist and a CEDA semifinalist as a junior in 2007, Brett moves from our three-week program to our four-week program this year. He and his partner have had impressive results over the last two seasons, including a victory at the 2006 tournament held at the University of Southern California and a finalist showing at the last two Harvard tournaments. Brett was also top speaker at both the 2008 CSU-Fullerton and the 2008 Dartmouth Round Robin.

Scott Harris - Director of Debate at the University of Kansas - During the last fifteen years at the University of Kansas, Scott has coached numerous first round bid recipients and multiple NDT semi-finalists. He is widely respected as one of the most innovative argument coaches in college debate. Scott has led dozens of summer institute labs at the Michigan Classic and the Jayhawk Debate Institute. His creative debate mind and unparalleled passion for debate competition have earned him the reputation as one of the top institute instructors anywhere. In 2006, Scott's program won the NDT Varsity Sweepstakes and Scott was personally honored by the NDT with the George Ziegelmueller Award for coaching and teaching excellence.

Aaron Hardy -Assitant Coach, Whitman College, 2004 NDT Semifinalist - After finishing a highly successful career at Michigan State with consecutive appearances in the semis and quarters of the NDT, Aaron has gone on to the coaching staff of Whitman College, where he is recognized as one of the most highly regarded young coaches in college debate. Leading Whitman's squad to a first-round at-large bid to the NDT and countless elimination round appearances at nearly every tournament of the year, Aaron has earned a reputation as one of the most hard working and dedicated coaches and lab leaders to be found.

Tim Mahoney - Debate Coach at the St. Marks School of Texas - Coach of the 2002 NFL National Champions and 2002 Tournament of Champion Finalists. As a college debater Tim advanced to the final round of 10 tournaments, winning seven of them. As a college coach his teams reached the elimination rounds at 9 consecutive CEDA National tournaments, and he qualified teams for the NDT every year after the merger. In his last year of college coaching, his top team was in the quarter finals of both the NDT and CEDA Nationals. Tim will be returning to work at the 4-week session of the 2007 SDI. He is also a senior instructor with the 5th week SDI Strategy Forum.

Gabe Murillo - 2007 NDT Top Speaker, 2007 and 2006 NDT Semifinalist, Assistant Coach, Michigan State Debate - Gabe is the reigning top speaker at the NDT. 2005-2006 was a tremendous year, including a First Round at large invitiation to and a 3rd Place finish at the National Debate Tournament. 2006-7 saw Gabe's successes continue, as he has been a top-5 sepaker at every tournament, and was the winner of the Kentucky Tournament. As a high school coach at Holland High School, Gabe helped coach a state championship team, and at Detroit Country Day has helped coached teams to the TOC, late elims of national tournaments, and to championships at multiple local tournaments. This is Gabe's 8th year at the SDI.

Varsha Ramakrishnan - Debate Coach, Stratford Academy - Varsha spent four successful years as a member of the MSU debate team, capping off her time at MSU by qualifying for the NDT in 2007. She is now a debate coach at Stratford Academy in Macon, Georgia, where she works with one of the best high school teams in the country. 2008 will be Varsha's second summer as an instructor in the four-week program.

Will Repko - MSU Head Coach - Will is the founder of the SDI. He joined Michigan State University's staff after coaching at East Lansing High School where his teams won several Michigan State Championships and the 1995 NCFL National Championship. Will's success has continued in his college coaching career where he has catapaulted Michigan State to an era of national prominence and excellence, including national championships in two of the last four years. Will was named the 2000 College Coach of the Year. This summer, Will is leading a 4-week lab at the 2008 SDI. He is also a senior instructor with the 5th week SDI Strategy Forum.

Dave Strauss - 2004 NDT Champion - Dave is currently an assistant coach at MSU and was part of one of the most successful two-person debate teams in history. As a sophomore, Dave and his partner became the youngest of only four teams to ever reach the "final four" of both CEDA and NDT in the same year. As a senior, he was part of the only team in the 58 year history of the National Debate Tournament to advance to the elimination rounds of the NDT four times as an intact pair. He won four tournaments in 2004, including the National Debate Tournament.

Tara Tate - Director of Debate, Glenbrook South High School - Tara is one of the most prominent high school coaches in the country. In addition to coaching many successful students at Glenbrook South High School, she is also the President of the National Debate Coaches Association. The SDI is very excited to welcome her for her first summer at our four-week program!

Chris Burk - Director of Debate and Forensics at the University of Texas at Dallas, Director of Debate at the University of Texas at Dallas, one of the fastest rising programs in college debate. Chris coached over a dozen teams to the National Debate Tournament, including multiple First Round teams, as an assistant coach at Texas-Austin. As a college debater, he advanced to the elimination rounds of major tournaments, including the NDT. Last spring he judged the Final Round of the NDT. Chris pursued his graduate studies in International Politics at Texas-Austin and the Australian National University. He is an experienced instructor, previously working at the Texas-Austin and Stanford camps as well as the the International Debate Academy in Slovenia. He has taught more than 20 sessions of debate camp.

Ruth Kay - Director of Debate at Detroit Country Day School - Ruth brings to SDI over 20 years of coaching experience along with competitive experience at the high school and college level. Ruth's teams have consistently been in the late elimination rounds of local and national tournaments along with qualifying for the TOC and winning the State Championship in Michigan. She has also served as a member and two-time chair of the National Topic Selection Wording Committee.

John Lawson - Assistant Director of Debate at Groves High School - John directs the novice debate program at Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan. He coached a National Catholic Forensic League Champion in 1998, five Class A Michigan Debate Champions and four Michigan Novice State Champions. His teams regularly reach late elimination rounds at major Michigan and regional invitationals. John has directed coaches seminars at the SDI, MNDI and the Michigan Classic. He debated in both high school and college, and now has 32 years of high school coaching experience, including teaching at the SDI and MNDI.

Tom Lietz - Director of Debate at Eisenhower High School - Tom has been the director of debate at Eisenhower HS for 9 years and a teacher at Eisenhower for the past 4.5 years. He has been highly successful within the state of Michigan, coaching a number of state finalists, at all levels, and his teams have had success on the national circuit as well. A former Wayne State Debater, Tom has NDT and high school experience as a debater. Tom's educational philosophy focuses around experiential learning that is engaging, enjoyable and informative.

Phil Samuels - Assistant debate coach at the University of Kansas - Phil has taught at numerous debate camps in recent years, including the University of Kansas, Concordia College, The New York Urban Debate League, and the Arizona Debate Institute. Phil has also coached high school debate for the last four seasons. He debated at Emporia State University where he reached the out rounds of the NDT and was an octo-finalist at CEDA nationals. This is Phil's 3rd summer at the SDI.

Matt Schissler - Whitman College -As a debater for Whitman college, Matt received two First Round at large invitations to the NDT, reaching the octofinals twice. He debated in the quarterfinals of CEDA Nationals twice, as well as elimination rounds at every other tournament he attended in the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons, including the finals of Northwestern in 2007. Matt joins us for his second SDI after spending the year traveling and teaching English in W. Thailand.

Chris Stone - Debater, University of Kansas - A junior at the University of Kansas, Chris has been a double octa-finalist at the NDT and CEDA nationals. This year, he has been in the outrounds of every major national tournament and won the University of Texas-Dallas tournament. He has been an assistant high school debate coach for the last two years. In this time he has helped coach the Kansas 6A State Debate Champions and a top 10 team at the NFL national tournament.

Sarah Topp - Graduate student, teaching assistant, and assistant debate coach at the University of Kansas - Sarah debated for four years at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where she debated in elimination rounds at the NDT, CEDA, Kentucky, Northwestern, UMKC, William Jewell and many other tournaments. Sarah has worked with several high school programs in MN, as well as at the Concordia Debate Institute, the Jayhawk Debate Institute, and the Midwest Debate Camp.

Hays Watson - Debate Coach, University of Georgia - Hays at Vestavia Hills High School in Alabama and at the University of Georgia from 2001-2005. During his time at Georgia, he reached the finals of tournaments at Harvard, Wake Forest, and West Georgia, as well as being invited to the prestigious Kentucky Dartmouth Round Robins. He was a four-time qualifier to the National Debate Tournament, a first Round-bid recipient, and two-time octofinalist. He has coached teams to the elimination rounds of major national intercollegiate debate tournaments as an assistant coach at Liberty University and at the University of Georgia.

Heather Walters - Assistant Director of Debate, Missouri State University - Heather has coached teams to the NDT every year since she graduated in 2000 including first round at large bids in 2006 and 2008. She helped lead multiple Missouri State teams to elimination rounds at nearly every major tournament of the year, including semi-finals at both CEDA and the NDT. Heather has worked at several high school institutes, has an extremely high work ethic, and frequently keeps in contact with her institute students throughout the school year.

Check back soon for updated staff information!!!