Calling speech and debate alums!
Remember when you stayed up all night preparing and practicing? Remember perfecting your pen flip? What about the first time you broke to a final round? We are in awe of the dedication and passion our members demonstrate season after season. With this in mind, we are excited to officially offer a NSDA Alumni Membership option to keep our community connected. Claim yours at speechanddebate.org/alumni.

Please use the following Live Docs for important information regarding procedures and information for the weekend:

Speech
Congress
LD
Public Forum
Pelham

Dear Forensics Director:

It is our pleasure to welcome the member schools of the Barkley Forum for High Schools to the 67th Annual Barkley Forum for High Schools at Emory University in Atlanta, which will be held January 28, 29, and 30, 2022 with an opening awards presentation on January 27. 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 hearing from member schools and to welcoming other interested schools with superior debate and forensic students. 

While the tournament will look very different this year, we are preserving many of the traditions that make the Barkley Forum for High Schools nationally unique, including an Opening Awards ceremony on Thursday, January 27th and Finals Award Ceremonies in all events. We will be honored to host you virtually even when we cannot host you on campus.  

Changes: 

• The tournament will be hosted on classrooms.cloud.  

• Please make checks payable to Emory University and send all checks to:

Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation and Dialogue
Emory University
Mailstop 1022-001-1AC
Atlanta, GA 30322

• Credit Cards:  We will be able to process credit cards for a 3.75% processing fee.  Contact Kara Grant at emorybfhs@gmail.com and she will add the fee to your invoice, then you can go to http://barkleyforum.emory.edu/community_outreach/bfhs_tournament.html and click on “pay now” to process your payment. 

• Required Student Form:  All participating students must submit one form by January 21 at 11:59 EST:  a Parental Consent/Media Release form that is available on tabroom.com.  Completed forms will be uploaded to tabroom.com.

• Recording and Livestreaming: All rounds will be recorded through classrooms.cloud.  No other recording of rounds may occur from another source except that participants should keep local recordings of each speech to send to judges in the event of a technical error.  The final rounds of all events as well as the Opening Awards Ceremony will be livestreamed.  

• Entourage Rule: Anyone providing coaching or research support for any contestants in the Pelham Debates, Public Forum, LD, or Congressional Debate should be entered in the judge pool for a minimum of 2 rounds and be available to judge elimination debates.  If there is a reason someone requires an exception, they should reach out to tournament administrators prior to the tournament for approval. 

• Awards:  We will return to our full slate of awards, which will be mailed after the tournament to the school.   

• “Registration”: On Thursday, January 27th, on-site check-in will open at 4:30 p.m. EST, and all schools must check in online by 7:00 p.m. EST.  Please verify there are no changes to your registration as listed on tabroom before checking in. 

• Background Checks: We will be doing background checks on all tournament-hired judges for the tournament, and all judges provided by the schools must have completed a successful background check conducted by the schools.

• Judge Entry Deadline/Deadline to Request Hired Judging:  If you wish to hire judging for the tournament, we suggest you request a hire early on tabroom.com.  The deadline to enter judges in all events and the deadline to request hired judging is January 14, 2022.  

• Observers:  During the tournament, students from a school that is participating in the tournament can observe rounds as an educational tool for students.  Please register them in tabroom under the event “Observer.”  We expect that any adult who wishes to observe be in the judge pool in an event with rounds available to judge.  If any adults wish to observe rounds and do not wish to be in a judge pool, they may watch the final rounds of any event, which will be livestreamed.   

• Alternative Platforms:  No one (judge, coach, student)  may switch their rounds to an alternative video platform that is not an official option approved by the tournament.  If anyone suggests moving to an alternative platform, please alert tournament personnel immediately.  Students agreeing to move to a separate platform will forfeit the round, and judges who move to a separate platform will be fined as if they did not judge their rounds.  

• Judge Video:  If at all possible, students and judges deserve to be able to see the judges with whom they are communicating. Judges may briefly turn their cameras off during decision time. To the extent possible, the cameras of competitors and judges should be on (and on them) while a student is speaking and during RFDs. Brief pauses are understandable. To the extent needed, cameras can be off to enhance streaming quality.

• Ombudsperson(s): We will have a/a team of tournament ombudsperson(s) to whom participants may direct complaints and concerns regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion issues.  More details will be released closer to the tournament date.  Please note that this is not the appropriate place to report gender based discrimination and harassment as detailed in the Title IX section of the invitation on pp. 18-20; those reports should be made to the Barkley Forum representative in your tab room.  Additionally, concerns about tournament procedure and tabulation should be reported to your event’s tab room.

• Congressional Debate

• We will generate preset recency numbers for each contestant in the room for each round.

• There will be direct questioning for all rounds, not just in elimination rounds. 

• Public Forum 

• For this year only, Public Forum will be single-flighted.
• We have added one minute of preparation time (for a total of 4 minutes) to accommodate evidence exchange.  Please see evidence exchange rules in the PF section.  We are also implementing a firm decision time for each round.
• Participants should report to the room as soon as the pairing is released for the coin flip.

• Lincoln Douglas 

• For this year only, Lincoln Douglas will be single-flighted. 

• We have added one minute of preparation time (for a total of 5 minutes).

• Speech 

• There will be synchronous competition in all speech events.

• We have added back Duo Interpretation this year.  Students will need to meet the social distancing/masking requirements of their local schools.  If they are required to be masked, we will inform judges that students should not be ranked down because they are wearing masks.

• We will continue to offer Oral Interpretation of Literature (formerly called Prose & Poetry at the BFHS).  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.

• To address concerns from last year that there was too much down time in the schedule, we have adjusted the schedule to start at 2:00 p.m. EST for all events except Extemporaneous Speaking, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. EST.  This change will also help some students attend at least a partial day of school before competition begins. 

• For the online safety of Extemporaneous Speaking participants, the last speaker will be required to observe the first speaker, and then will go to prep. All subsequent speakers are required to watch all other speakers for the duration of the round after they speak. This is to ensure there are always three or more individuals in any given call. One on one interaction between an adult and student is strictly prohibited.

• With the exception of Extemporaneous Speaking, students may not use the same primary source in more than one event (e.g. using the same source for DI and POI or using the same primary source in Informative Speaking and OO). 

Additional Information:

• Expectations for competitive integrity: ​​The Barkley Forum for High Schools believes that competitive integrity is more important than competitive success.  We also believe firmly that every participant has the right to participate in a respectful, safe, and supportive environment.  We expect that every competitor, judge, coach and observer will engage in a spirit of fair and affirming competition and will act in good faith to preserve the integrity of the tournament.  We expect participants to abide by the honor codes and integrity policies of their represented academic institutions.  We expect that no participants will lie, cheat, steal or otherwise undermine the fairness of the tournament and that all participants will hold themselves to the highest standards of honesty and integrity in competition. Your participation in the Barkley Forum for High Schools indicates that you understand these expectations and will abide by them. 

• We have immense respect for the educators who make speech and debate programs available in schools, the schools who support those speech and debate programs, and the students who have put in the hard work required to attend the Barkley Forum for High Schools.  In order to respect all of these entities, we have these policies and procedures in place:

• To stay true to the founding principle of the Barkley Forum for High Schools – to encourage the development of high-quality forensics programs at high schools around the country – the tournament will only accept applications from students representing their high schools.  No independent entries will be allowed, and no entries representing entities other than high schools will be allowed.  Rare exceptions to this policy may be made at the discretion of the tournament director.  If you would like to request an exception, please email Ed Lee at emorybfhs@gmail.com to describe your situation.

• If a student is not “accompanied” by his/her debate coach to the tournament, s/he must have a hard copy of a letter on school letterhead from the school’s administration indicating the student has permission to compete on behalf of the school.  If the student is not able to provide the letter upon request during the tournament, tournament administration reserves the right to remove the student from the competition and forfeit all previous rounds. 

• 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.  Special circumstances may lead to rare exceptions to this rule at the tournament director’s discretion.  

• Unless approved by the tournament director, if you choose not to participate in a tutorial or exhibition (outround), you forfeit all previous rounds.  We will submit your results reflecting no wins/last place in each round to the TOC, NIETOC, and other entities to whom we provide results. 

• Please make sure all judges and students are informed about the tournament’s Title IX policy, which is detailed beginning on p. 18 of the invitation.

• We require that all judges, coaches, and participating students have an established, functional Tabroom.com account - including a cell phone number listed.

• It is an expectation of the tournament that students will accurately represent material read during speeches. In order to ensure compliance, all rounds will be recorded. 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 for an assigned round, we will assess a $50 per round fine.  In addition, it will endanger any Member Schools’ standing.  

• Mavericks in 2-person debate events:

• Mavericks cannot clear or advance; they must have debated as a team collectively for at least 4 rounds in prelims to clear. In Pelham Debates, each debater has to give a constructive and a rebuttal to be considered having debated in a round (barring extenuating circumstances such as a mid-round forfeit); if both debaters have not done so during a round, they cannot advance.  

• Should the occasion arise that a student does debate maverick due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness or connectivity issues, in the Pelham Debates, the debater not debating in the round will receive speaker points of 27.5 for the round.  In Public Forum, the debater not debating in the round will receive speaker points of 25 for the round.

• In order to launch the tournament appropriately and celebrate the 67th anniversary of the tournament, we will have a livestreamed Opening Awards Assembly for all students, coaches, and judges at 5:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, January 27, 2022, during which participants will recognize the new Key coaches and honor the winner of the Melissa Maxcy Wade Social Justice Award. Dr. Carlos del Rio, Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Emory University and Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health, will be receiving the Georgia Speaker of the Year Award and addressing the attendees. 

Entry/Application Deadlines and Entry Caps

Applications to attend (including the competitive records/qualifiers for each student applying) from non-member schools must be entered on the BFHS website no later than December 6, 2021.  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. 

All participating students must submit a parental consent and media release form.   Participating schools assume any and all responsibility and liability for both student and adult participants from their schools and by registering attest that an adult will be present at the tournament and will assume all responsibility for the school’s students. Additionally, while Emory will be conducting background checks on all judges we provide, all judges provided by the schools must have completed a successful background check conducted by the schools.

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. Teams will get judge strikes of 10% of the judge pool for preliminary rounds.  

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. 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, so it is especially important that your judges are entered accurately in a timely fashion.  If your judges are not entered by January 14th, you will be required to pay the full judge hire fee.  Please have all judges post their judge philosophy on tabroom.com under “paradigms.”  You will not be allowed to enter prefs until all your judges have supplied a paradigm.  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. 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 January 14th, you will be required to pay the full judge hire fee.  Please have all judges post their judge philosophy on tabroom.com under “paradigms.” You will not be allowed to enter prefs until all your judges have supplied a paradigm. 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.  

If there are any last-minute changes, please notify us in writing at EmoryBFHS@gmail.com. 

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