Invitation Letter

Dear Forensics Director:

It is our pleasure to welcome the member schools of the Barkley Forum for High Schools to the 63rd Annual Barkley Forum for High Schools at Emory University in Atlanta, which will be held January 26, 27, and 28, 2018. It is an equal pleasure to invite applications from other schools to be with us in January. Emory University has a historic commitment to forensics, both high school and college. We look forward to seeing the member schools, and we anticipate invitations (which follow applications) for the interested schools of the United States with superior debate and forensic students.

Changes:

 ·      Very important:  Our mailing address has changed!  After many years at “Drawer U,” our new mailing address is:

Barkley Forum

Emory University

Mailstop:  1022-001-1AC

Atlanta, GA 30322

Please make sure your bookkeeper sends any checks to the updated address.  Our physical office location remains the same but has a new physical address: Alumni Memorial University Center, 630 Means Drive, Suite 130. 

·      Also, the Emory campus is undergoing major construction.  The newer portion of the Dobbs University Center (DUC) has been demolished to make room for a new Campus Life Center.  The older portion of the DUC (where Barkley Forum offices are located) is still standing, but it has been renamed the Alumni Memorial University Center (AMUC).  As a result of the room shortages the DUC demolition is causing, at least until December 8th when admittance decisions are made or until notified by tournament staff, Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas, and Pelham Debates will only be able to enter/apply for TWO entries.  Please do not enter the names of more than 2 teams/competitors for Public Forum, Pelham, and Lincoln Douglas, as it creates a severe administrative burden on the tournament staff to sift through extra entries.  If we are able to accept third entries, we will let you know once initial admittance decisions are made.

·      Pelham Debates

o   The Pelham Debates have historically had the longest days at the BFHS.  After extensive conversations with you, we are going to try a new schedule for the Pelham Debates this year.  Pairings will be released at noon on Friday, then round 1 (for Pelham Debates only!) will begin on Emory’s campus at 1:30 p.m.  You will be responsible for paying for your parking on Friday, since this is earlier than we are able to gain access to the parking decks.  We will have three rounds on Friday, four on Saturday, and start with octos on Sunday morning.

o   Due to room constraints caused by construction, at least until December 8th or until notified by tournament staff, please do not enter/apply for more than 2 teams for the Pelham Debates.

·      Public Forum

o   We are adding a partial triples out round to the schedule to make sure that all teams with a winning record clear. We plan on clearing all 4-2 or better teams.

o   Due to room constraints caused by construction, at least until December 8th or until notified by tournament staff, please do not enter/apply for more than 2 teams in Public Forum.

o   The gathering place for Public Forum students will be the lobby of the School of Medicine.

·      Lincoln Douglas

o   Due to room constraints caused by construction, at least until December 8th or until notified by tournament staff, please do not enter/apply for more than 2 entries for Lincoln Douglas.

·      Congressional Debate

o   We will give awards to semifinalists in Congressional Debate.

·      Speech

o   We would like to showcase the final round of a speech event and highlight it in a way similar to what we have done for the Pelham Debates since the inception of the tournament.  This year, the finals of Duo Interpretation will be held at the same time as the finals for the Pelham Debates, with Key Coaches adjudicating both events.  After the final rounds, awards for all events will be held simultaneously in the WHSCAB auditorium.

o   We will again offer Prose & Poetry, and each round will be designated for either prose or poetry, beginning with poetry in Round 1, alternating each round and ending with prose in the exhibition final round.

Additional Information:

·      All events will be held on the Emory campus.  Please note that Emory is a tobacco-free campus.  For more information, please visit www.tobaccofree.emory.edu. 

·      We will be using tabroom.com for all divisions. We require that all judges have an established, functional Tabroom account prior to being registered as a judge.  If there are any questions about this requirement, please feel free to let us know.

·      For use while you are on campus, consider downloading Emory Mobile. Under “Campus Connection,” there are maps, and there are also instructions for getting your wireless devices connected to WiFi, dining information, etc. 

·      We will give doubles awards in all debate events following rounds on Saturday night (after the First Tutorial in Public Forum, the Walter Alan Ulrich Tutorial in LD, and the Anne Douglas White Tutorial in Pelham), the semifinals awards in Congressional Debate on Sunday morning, and the quarterfinals awards (tutorials participants) in speech events on Sunday morning.

·      If students qualify to participate in the tutorials (i.e., clear), they are expected to be available through the final exhibition round to respect their opponents and the participants who will learn from their performance.  If a student must leave the tournament and cannot participate in a tutorial or exhibition round for which s/he has qualified, s/he will forfeit his/her award and all rounds after preliminary rounds.  Special circumstances may lead to rare exceptions to this rule at the tournament director’s discretion.  We are providing this information so you may make your travel plans accordingly.  

·      We will have a judges’ lounge with coffee.

·      It is an expectation of the tournament that students will accurately represent material read during speeches. In order to ensure compliance, students may record their opponents’ speeches. It is the responsibility of coaches to ensure that their debaters and parents understand this tournament requirement and complete the paperwork necessary to ensure compliance with applicable state laws.

·      Please ensure your judges show up, particularly on Sunday.  For judges that do not show, we will assess a $50 per round fine to be added to your 2019 entry fee.  In addition, it will endanger any Member Schools’ standing. 

·      Mavericks in 2-team events cannot clear; they must have debated as a team collectively for at least 4 rounds.

·      We ask that you provide a cell phone number on Tabroom so we can reach you with any questions during the tournament.

Applications to attend (including the competitive records for each student applying) from non-member schools must be entered on the BFHS website no later than December 4, 2017.  Indications of attendance from member schools must be entered on the website by the same date. Shortly thereafter, an email will be sent to all the schools that have been selected to attend.

In order to launch the tournament appropriately and celebrate the 63rd anniversary of the tournament, we will have an Opening Awards Assembly for all students, coaches, and judges from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. on Friday, January 26th at The Ballroom at Carlos Center during which participants will hear a keynote speaker, recognize the new Key coaches, and honor the winner of the Melissa Maxcy Wade Social Justice Award. We are honored that Glenda Ferguson, Key Coach and retired speech and debate coach and teacher from Coppell High School, will be our keynote speaker this year. Also, Dr. Carol Anderson, Chair of Emory University’s Department of African American Studies and author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism, will receive the Georgia Speaker of the Year Award.  We anticipate that pairings will be available at the end of the Opening Awards Assembly. 

For guests wishing to use the electronic registration alternative on January 26th in lieu of coming to registration at The Ballroom at Carlos Center, please note that your entry fees must be received by the Barkley Forum prior to registration and you must check in online by 11:00 a.m. (See FAQ section for more information on how e-registration works.)

Please note that students’ participation in the Barkley Forum for High Schools constitutes consent to use their image in promotional materials for the tournament/Barkley Forum.

In Public Forum Debate, we are accepting two entries from Member Schools.  We will accept two applications from non-member schools, and admission will be granted based upon space available. After the first round of admittance decisions are made, we might be able to let in third teams and will communicate that with you if space constraints make that possible.  Please only enter TWO teams on Tabroom prior to December 4, 2017.  Teams will get three judge strikes.

In Congressional Debate, we are accepting ten entries from Member Schools.  We will accept ten applications from non-member schools, and admission will be granted based upon the space available. 

The Pelham Debates feature two-person, switch-sides debating using the cross-examination format. Member schools will send their most experienced teams since the FORUM IS NOT A PRACTICE-TYPE TOURNAMENT.  This year we are accepting two entries from Member Schools. We will accept two applications from non-member schools, and admission will be granted based upon space available. After the first round of admittance decisions are made, we might be able to let in third teams and will communicate that with you if space constraints make that possible.  Please only enter TWO teams on Tabroom prior to December 4, 2017. There will be six preliminary rounds of debate. The top 32 teams will be asked to participate in five exhibition rounds.  We will have a mutual judge preference system for the Pelham Debates (using an ordinal ranking system), so it is especially important that your judges are entered accurately in a timely fashion.  If your judges are not entered by the time prefs go up, you will be required to pay the full judge hire fee.  Please have all judges post his or her judge philosophy at http://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com.  More details about prefs will follow via email closer to the tournament date. Please note that the judge preferences do not apply to The Thomas Glenn Pelham Silver Key Debate. 

In Lincoln-Douglas, we are accepting two entries from Member Schools. We will accept two applications from non-member schools, and admission will be granted based upon space available. After the first round of admittance decisions are made, we might be able to let in third entries and will communicate that with you if space constraints make that possible.  Please only enter TWO competitors on Tabroom prior to December 4, 2017. Up to the top 32 individuals (with a 4-2 record or better) will be asked to participate in the exhibition rounds.  We will have a mutual judge preference system for the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, so it is especially important that your judges are entered accurately in a timely fashion. If your judges are not entered by the time prefs go up, you will be required to pay the full judge hire fee.  Please have all judges post his or her judge philosophy at http://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com.  More details about prefs will follow via email closer to the tournament date. Please note that the judge preferences do not apply to The Dale Lauder McCall Exhibition. 

In Speech Events, four entries per school are permitted in any one event. No triple entries will be allowed. 

The Final Awards Ceremony will be held in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Administration Building (WHSCAB).  You will not want to miss the Presentation of the Silver Keys and supportive awards, as it is nationally unique. 

If there are any last minute changes, please notify us in writing at EmoryBFHS@gmail.com. During the course of the tournament, we will be posting updates on Tabroom.

We hope to bring you the best possible forensics experience we can offer.  May we hear from each of you soon.

Sincerely,

Ed Lee, Tournament Director                                                          

Kara Grant, Tournament Administrator