The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation is proud to announce its annual Coolidge Texas Open, a two-day debate tournament that will be held on Friday and Saturday, January 23 and 24, 2026, in Dallas, Texas. On Friday, January 24, the tournament will begin with a special topic seminar and showcase debate at the historic Old Parkland campus before moving to Southern Methodist University for competition on Saturday. We are excited to bring a Coolidge Cup qualifying tournament to the Metroplex again this year!

Overview of the Tournament
Date: Friday and Saturday, January 23 and 24, 2026.
Times: A detailed schedule will be available soon.
Format: 1v1 Coolidge debate format.
Location: Old Parkland and Southern Methodist University, building(s) to be announced.
Eligibility: All students currently enrolled in grades 6-12.
Cost: Free with dinner on Friday and lunch on Saturday provided.
Registration: Registration closes Tuesday, January 13, at 11:59 PM CST. Entries will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. If and when we reach capacity, we will move to a waiting list ordered by time of entry.
Judges: Volunteer citizen judges are provided; attendees have no requirement to provide judges but are encouraged to provide judges at a ratio of one judge for every two competitors or fraction thereof.
Attire: Business professional.

Resolution and Research Brief
At this tournament, students will debate our spring 2026 resolution, which will be announced in December. We will also provide a research brief.

Tournament Structure
This is a one-day tournament with a Middle School/Novice division and an Open/Varsity division. All students grades 6 to 12 from any school are eligible to compete, including independent entries and homeschool students. All 6th, 7th, and 8th graders must compete in the Middle School/Novice division since they are not eligible to earn Coolidge Cup qualification.

Participants will begin at Old Parkland on Friday with a topic seminar followed by a showcase debate by 1890 Society members. On Saturday, we will move to SMU to begin competition (transportation provided for those who need it), for lunch and four rounds of competition for all competitors. Competitors will be paired randomly for round one, and paired high-low within brackets thereafter. To clarify, this means students debate an opponent with the same win-loss record as their own from round two onwards.

The top four finishers will each receive an invitation to the 2025 Coolidge Cup, which is a national invitational speech and debate tournament sponsored by the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation and held in President Coolidge’s historic hometown of Plymouth, Vermont, on July 2-4, 2026. Learn more about the Coolidge Cup.

Divisions
The tournament will have three divisions: Middle School, High School Novice, and High School Open/Varsity.

• All students in grades 6-8 must enter the Middle School division since they are not eligible to earn Coolidge Cup qualification. Only students in grades 6-8 may compete in the Middle School division.
• High school students with no experience or minimal experience may elect to participate in the Novice division. (We define a novice as a high school debater who is in their first year ofanyspeech and debate competition.)
• High School students with experience debating in either the Coolidge Debate League or other leagues should participate in the Open/Varsity division. Any student in grades 9-12 may choose to enter the Open/Varsity division.

Format and Style
Students will compete in the Coolidge 1v1 debate format, the same format that is used at the Coolidge Cup. For those new to debating in this format, we highly recommend reviewing our debate education resources that provide information about this particular style and rules. Consistent with Coolidge debate's mission, this tournament will recruit and use volunteer citizen judges. Schools are not required to provide judges for this tournament, but are encouraged to do so at a ratio of one judge for every two competitors or fraction thereof. Please ensure that any volunteer judges you recruit are familiar with the Coolidge format and its mission to remain accessible and persuasive for a broad, civic audience.

Judges
We need volunteer judges for our debate tournaments! We welcome citizen judges of all types, including parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, and other members of the community. Experience with debating or judging is not necessary. If you are interested, please take a look at ourinformation for judges. On the morning of the tournament, we will hold a brief judge training session, where we will give you all the guidance you need for the day and will answer all of your questions.Register here to volunteer as a judge or have your school's coach enter you on this site as part of your official entry.

Old Parkland Parking Information
There are two entrances to campus, one from Oak Lawn Avenue and one from Maple Avenue. The debate chamber is located in Commonwealth Hall (Google Maps pin) on the Old Parkland campus. The complex has an underground garage that stretches underneath the Parkland Hall, Commonwealth Hall, and Oak Lawn Hall buildings, which they recommend. Security will be on site to direct you to the parking area.

SMU Parking Information
Faculty parking is free and available for public use on Saturdays. Dr. Voth recommends Lot Q, shown on this map, which is the nearest parking lot to Dallas Hall (labeled 1,Google Maps pin), where debates will occur. Enter the lot labeled Q off of Daniel Avenue (Google Maps pin). Other buildings to note are the Umphrey Lee Center (labeled 10), where we will enjoy lunch in the dining hall courtesy of the Foundation, and Hyer Hall (labeled 39), where additional classrooms will be used for debates should tournament registration warrant it.

Questions
If you have any questions about the tournament, the Coolidge Cup, or about judging, please contact the Coolidge Foundation's Director of Speech and Debate, Jonathan Peele.