The Genesis
In the mid-1990s, Jacob Weigler, a first-year at NYU who did policy debate in high school, arrived to find no established policy debate team. Pamela Stepp, the director at Cornell University suggested he reach out to one of her former students who worked for a UN NGO in NYC. When Will Baker met Jake, he was serving as the Speech and Debate Director at Queens College, he was skeptical. Having coached at Cornell and directed the Columbia University speech and debate team to national success, students approached him about starting programs regularly from across NYC but they lacked the neccessary follow-through. Baker gave Weigler a series of tasks to establish team infrastructure stating if Jake completed those he'd help form the team and direct the program. When Jake returned three weeks later with those tasks completed. the pair crafted a plan for what would become a storied legacy.
Collaboration
The Debut
Jake debuted with a swing partner at the Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner tournament hosted by Queens College. WhileJake won Open team and speaker awards, NYU's first novice recruit, Justine Daniels did the same in novice debating with a New School student, Ellen Hogarty. Their second tournament would be the Russell D. Martin Tournament of Love at Cornell University. NYU added two more NYU novices to their Cornell delegation including Vik Keenan.
Commitment to Service
With a tiny budget NYU allied itself with Queens College and Rockland CC teams who were experts at leveraging limited resources to compete. The goal or the NY Coalition of Colleges was to "graduate" self-sustaining programs that had governance, good public relations, paid coaching staffs and university support in 2-4 years .
Once Fordham, Columbia, CUNY and the New School joined, the NY Coalition of Colleges moved under the umbrella of the IMPACT Coalition, founded by Baker to introduce the transformative power of policy debate to traditionally disenfranchised communities. IMPACT launched the NY Urban Debate League (NYUDL), the Malcolm X Prison Debates, and the Coalition Institute and Training Initiative with funding from George Soros' Open Society Institute. NYU debaters and coaches served as the core volunteers. .
An Innovative Coaching Model
Baker understood NYC attracted successful debaters for law school, grad school and work. They loved debate but couldn't participate in traditional coaching roles. Starting with former Cornell debaters, Will recruited a volunteer coaching staff empowering them to design their own roles based on their availability and commitment. Those volunteers teamed with IMPACT employees and NYU CEDA alums to become one of the most formidable coahcing staffs in the nation.
Bryte Bu (CAS '20) and Gloria Zheng (Stern '20), 2nd place in the nation at Novice Nationals 2017, hosted at West Virginia University.
A Legacy of Scholarship and Leadership
At the behest of NYU President John Sexton, Baker researched how faculty incorporated debate into their instruction. Thoe findings led to a debate class and a Debate Across the Curriculum template to help other NYU professors achieve their desired outcomes. In-class demonstration debates by led students to flock.to the NYUCEDA team elevating it to a co-curricular tool.
Our commitment to service, novice training, social justice and national competition helped alums go on to tremednous success in business, law, education, tech and government. Within the debate world, several direct successful HS and intercollegiate programs, publish scholarly materials,. and occupy key leadership posts in national/international organizations mentoring the next generation.
