I was the Director of Debate under David Frank from 1986 to 1988. David recruited me to attend UO for my master’s degree and direct the program after I won the CEDA national championship in 1986 and Oregon’s reputation was stellar.

I saw first hand how transformative competitive debate was for each of the students who participated, the impact they brought to the rest of their classes, and the pride of their success throughout the university. I’m heartbroken at the thought that these experiences won’t be available to UO students, or that they’ll be at risk every year if a student club model is adopted. Competitive speech & debate deserves to be funded fully, especially in a world where $40M plus is spent on football and $140M plus is spent on sports overall. No, debate doesn’t draw booster money like football. Yes, it’s worth being fully funded. Please, please change this decision.