Looking Backward to Look Forward

by Karla Leeper, Baylor University

As the 1996-97 season draws to a close and our squad begins to prepare for the final stretch of competition, the NDT is a common topic for discussion. That isn't particularly strange, because in each of the 16 or so years I Have been involved in intercollegiate debate the conversation has been an annual occurrence. Students who have not yet been to the NDT tirelessly pester those who have attended to tell them every detail about the tournament: "You mean they read all of the pairings out loud!", or "They didn't disclose decisions? How could you stand it?", or "The long gray what?". Those who are NDT veterans tirelessly pester their coaches to tell them about the NDT on the "fire topic" or the "wheel topic." There are some pleasant and some painful reminiscences, but almost non of them are without a degree poignancy. As these stories are being told, those who will be attending this year's NDT try to predict how the upcoming tournament will go and how they will be remembered in these storytelling sessions in the future. Few other tournaments can claim the same "mythic" place in our memory as the National Debate Tournament; and any discussion of where the NDT is going is deeply rooted in what the NDT represents to us about our past.

I have been fortunate enough to have been part of two debate programs with a tremendous sense of tradition. Tradition ties generations together. Every year at Baylor, we host a gathering of former debaters. Some of our current debaters attend, and the observation that is made each year is "the names change, but the stories are the same." Kansas' squad room is a memorial to former Jayhawk's wins and embarrassing moments. Individuals born decades apart have something in common, a tie that creates a relationship based on participation in debate. The NDT is one place where our traditions reside: and the traveling trophies and the list of champions, and the rituals of the tournament are evidence that we as a group have a long and wonderful history. The willingness of so many alumni to attend the tournament proves that the NDT is our yearly opportunity to come together on a special occasion and recognize the importance of the activity that has bound so many of us together.

The senior experience at the NDT is particularly meaningful. For them it is their last opportunity to achieve their potential; once the tournament is finished they must put aside an activity that has absorbed a good deal of their attention for the last four (sometimes more) years. And while Wake Forest or Northwestern might prove to be just as tough a tournament, I have not seen students or their coaches go through the same emotional reaction during their final debate at those tournaments as I have seen after round eight or on elimination day at the NDT. Even the most stoic competitor is moved by the close of this portion of their life. But unlike other tournaments, where you usually return home halfway through the final day of competition and return next weekend to fight again, almost everyone stays through the final round of the NDT. We seek out those to who we have been tied by common tradition until our champion, whose name we will read on the trophy next year, has been chosen. We bicker over who really won, we talk about what we will be doing during the summer or next fall, and we enjoy each other's company without the pressure of competition.

Every former NDT participant with whom I spoke used the same word to describe their recollection of the NDT - celebration. Getting there is an accomplishment. Finishing a year or a career is an accomplishment. And whether they were disappointed by their performance, or were one of the lucky ones who finish their career on a high note, they were all glad to have been there. They were glad they heard Hazen/Zarefsky/Johnson/Parson say "Round One of the 19XX NDT," they were glad they got their name in the book of participants for future debaters to remember, they laughed about tearing their placards off the Big Board, and they collect the pens they have stolen from their coaches over all those years in their participant awards.

There will undoubtedly be changes in the NDT. The past five years have seen more change than I would have ever thought possible: decisions are now disclosed, we have third teams from schools, and some of our new friends from the CEDA community applied for and received first round at large bids. The NDT committee is considering restructuring the qualification process or perhaps even opening the tournament up altogether, along with changes in judging and pairing procedures. While these changes may better reflect current practice or pragmatic questions facing the Tournament and its Director, I don't think they reflect fundamental changes in the nature of what the meaning of this event has come to be. The NDT is and will continue to be a celebration of our past and future commitment to a tremendous activity. Proposed changes which undercut that celebration are the ones which really deserve our opposition.

More importantly, the NDT is beginning to reflect a growing awareness in our activity that we must expand our reach. A glance through the last several Tournament booklets indicates an increase (albeit small) in participation by women and minority groups. The NDT will change as the nature of its participants changes: those who participate are a composite of the health and vitality of our activity. Diversity in debate will allow our NDT traditions to include all people. When I was a senior it was still a remarkable event when women were in elimination rounds at the Tournament. Now we even buy women's watches. Tradition for tradition's sake is oppressive, but tradition which recollects the beginnings of our group and which is flexible enough to allow our evolution is invaluable. The NDT, as the repository of our collective memory will go where we take it. In a time where surveys of university students report that only 28.5% of them try to keep up on current affairs, and only 14.8% of them discuss political issues frequently, traditions such as ours are crucial. We give our time and our efforts to debate because we believe it makes us better people and that we can use it to improve our world. The NDT is more than a way to choose a national champion, it is a reaffirmation of that belief.

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