Northwestern’s Debaters Keep Facts at the Fore—and Wins Coming In
In a world where news breaks every minute, and misinformation clouds so much of the discourse, the art of debating has become more essentialthan ever.
The Northwestern Debate Society (NDS) is doing its part. The oldest intercollegiate debating organization in the country, NDS has won 15 national championships—more than any other university. It is reserved for serious debaters only.
The last academic year was a good one for the NDS; it reached the quarterfinals and snagged top-ranked speaker positions in its final tournaments. And for the first time since 2012, three pairs of Northwestern debaters competed in the National Debate Tournament.
“We've always been a place for debaters who want both an excellent education and a chance to compete for a great debate team,” says Daniel Fitzmier, director of the debate program and a senior lecturer in the School of Communication. “I start recruiting some students when they are high school sophomores if they are really promising but most of them have competed in at least four years of debate in high school before joining the team.”
Just like any other sports team at Northwestern, NU Debate is competitive. Fitzmier has coached 10 different teams to the finals of the National Debate Tournament, including the National Champions in 2015, 2011, 2005, 2003, 2002, and 2000. He was voted the National Debate Coach of the Year in 2012 and has coached 15 teams to the Final Four of the National Debate Tournament.
The Society consists of 16 undergraduates divided into eight two-person policy debate teams. Policy debate is the fast-talking, fact-packed style focused on topics in government. Teams of two participate in about 10 or 11 online and in-person tournaments each year and have three full time coaches and five assistant coaches who work with the team when they travel for tournaments.
“We'll fly out on a Friday and participate in eight debates over the course of the weekend,” Fitzmier said. “Then there’s a single elimination championship bracket on Monday, so, there's another four or five debates before it’s all over.”
The competition season runs from the fall quarter through the beginning of spring quarter, and then the students begin preparation for the next year in late May. Though NDS is housed in the School of Communication, undergraduates throughout the University participate. Northwestern also holds the Owen L. Coon Memorial Debates every September, named after Owen L. Coon, a Northwestern alumnus and a former University Trustee.
NDS also participates in Northwestern’s National High School Institute (NHSI) every summer, teaching the art of policy debate to eighth-through-eleventh grade ‘Cherubs’ over the six-week span.
Nikola Stamenković Diez entered the world of Northwestern debate as a Cherub. They participated in the program from 2017-19, applied to Northwestern during their senior year of high school, and joined the program as an admitted student.
They debated at Northwestern each of their four years, qualifying to the National Debate Tournament and winning both the Milton S. Florsheim Prize and the John B. Kirk Award, which are presented to students for excellence in debate and to honor the winner of the Kirk Oratorical Contest, respectively.
“I learned about Northwestern from a debate coach in high school and decided to attend because of the amount of attention, resources, and support you receive here,” Stamenković Diez says. “You can really excel here.”
In 2024 they graduated from Northwestern with degrees in Political Science and Gender & Sexuality Studies and a minor in Critical Theory. Now they are the assistant coach for Northwestern Debate and the assistant institute director for curriculum at the NHSI Debate Institute.
“Being a part of Northwestern debate for me was energizing, and I came back to ensure that the experience is just as productive and welcoming,” said Stamenković Diez, who is also a graduate student at the University of Chicago. “I want to help students finetune their argument preferences. I want to see them succeed.”
Fitzmier, who has worked with NHSI’s debate institute for 21 years, agrees.
“I love working with the students and coaching them through all the emotional ups and downs that come with a competitive season,” he says. “It's awfully fun getting to work with really motivated young people who really want to challenge themselves. I'm hopeful that the rest of my career will be focused on this kind of work.”
You can follow the Northwestern Debate Society on X at @NUDebate: https://x.com/NUDebate and keep up with all their success. If a high schooler wants to participate in the NHSI Debate Institute, applications are available here: https://nhsi.northwestern.edu/debate-division/debate-application-information/.