Policy Debate Faculty & Staff
Dr. Brian Lain, UNT Director of Debate
Dr. Brian Lain comes to the workshop having completed his sixth year as the Director of Debate at the University of North Texas. Brian attended Wake Forest University on a Presidential Scholarship, where he earned a top-6 First Round At Large Bid to the National Debate Tournament in two consecutive years. Brian went on to earn his Masters degree at Wayne State University in Detroit and his Doctorate at the University of Iowa.
Having coached for Iowa, Wayne State, and Emory (where he coached the 1996 NDT Champions) and taught at workshops such as Wake and Dartmouth, Brian's proven track record of success are even more evident in the new direction of the UNT debate program. We are proud to offer Brian's skills at this summer's workshops.
2009 Lab Instructors
(Alphabetically)
Chris Agee
Mr. Agee returns for his fourth year as the Novice Lab instructor. While attending the University of North Texas, Agee qualified three times for the National Debate Tournament and received his bachelor's degree and teaching certification. He has spent nearly 25 years debating, judging, and coaching policy debate in the North Texas area. As the coach at Newman Smith High School for the past 13 years, Mr. Agee has coached students to both the NFL National and TFA State tournaments in policy debate, extemp, impromptu, and student congress. Mr. Agee earned his NFL Diamond award in 2006. Mr. Agee is adept at simplifying difficult concepts in debate while maintaining a challenging, fun, and energetic environment for young debaters. We look forward to having him back again this summer!
Kuntal Cholera
Kuntal completes his final year at the University of North Texas this spring as arguably the best debater in the country. Kuntal debated for Clear Lake High School in Houston, Texas and achieved historic results for his squad at the high school and college levels. A Kentucky Fellow, Kuntal competed in late elimination rounds at several tournaments, including Octas at the TOC, Glenbrooks, and Greenhill, Quarters at Harvard, and Semis at MBA, UT and Grapevine. His numerous speaking awards include 3rd at UT, 7th at Harvard and 6th at the Tournament of Champions.
His high school achievements would later be overshadowed by becoming perhaps the most decorated debater in the long history of the UNT debate program. In '07-'08 Kuntal and his colleague were in the late elims of several major national tournaments, including the Octas at Harvard and Quarters at CEDA Nationals. He concluded his season in 2008 by winning 12th Speaker at the National Debate Tournament. In '08-'09, Kuntal received a First Round At Large Bid to the National Debate Tournament, where he was honored as the Top Speaker - the highest individual honor in college debate. We are proud of Kuntal's accomplishments as a UNT debater, and we are pleased to have him join us again this summer!
Nick Coburn-Palo
Nick Coburn-Palo is currently in the PhD program in political science at Brown University, specializing in political theory and American politics. He was previously a Teacher and Policy Debate Coach for eight years at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, California. While at College Prep, Policy debaters he coached won the National Tournament of Champions in 2003 and reached the Final Round of NFL Nationals and the T.O.C. in 2004. During his time at CPS, his debaters also have won the Harvard Round Robin, Michigan Round Robin, The Glenbrooks, USC, Redlands and Stanford; reaching the Final Round of tournaments including MBA, St. Marx, Emory, and Berkeley. In 2003 he was presented with the Acolyte Award, given annually to the top Assistant Debate Coach in the nation. Mr. Coburn-Palo served on the National Tournament of Champions Advisory Committee for Policy Debate, is a National Forensic League Diamond Key Coach and served as the Chairman of the NFL National Policy Debate Review and Recommendation Committee. He has also taught over a dozen non-profit seminars for regions lacking in experienced coaching on behalf of the National Debate Education Project, Rhode Island Urban Debate League, and the Bay Area Urban Debate League. He also serves as the Program Coordinator for the Ivy Scholar's Program, a Yale University administered summer program emphasizing political philosophy, argumentation, leadership and grand strategy, run by the International Security Studies center. Mr. Coburn-Palo has also served as an English Instructor at Kyonggi University and for the Ministry of Home Affairs for the Republic of Korea, Assistant Director of Forensics and a Lecturer in the Department of Communication at Weber State University (UT), Teacher and Debate Coach at the Pinewood School (CA) and as the Assistant Dean and Debate Coach at Hopkins High School (MN). Debaters he coached while at Hopkins H.S. won the Minnesota State Championship and the T.O.C. in LD debate.
Julian Gagnon
Julian is a former debater from Buchholz High School in Gainsville Florida. In high school he cleared at Emory and Stanford and became the first debate team from his school to receive a TOC bid. He was a top ten speaker at FSU and the Florida Blue Key, receiving second place at the Blue Key Round-Robin. In college he debated for the University of North Texas, clearing at the University of Kentucky, Wake Forest, Northwestern, and numerous other national tournaments, as well as receiving an invitation to the Kentucky Round-Robin.
Julian coached the semi-finalists at the 2002 and 2005 Tournaments of Champions, and the second and fourth speakers there in 2004 and 2005. While working with Highland Park High School, Julian coached teams who cleared at virtually every national tournament in the country and won countless speaker awards. In 2005 his team won every tournament they attended in California, including Berkeley, USC and Redlands. In 2006 he coached for St. Augustine in San Diego, who cleared at almost every tournament at which they debated, including reaching the semifinals at MBA. At previous institutes he received exemplary evaluations. Julian currently assists coaching debate at UNT, Grapevine, and Highland Park. He has been regarded as one of the best young coaches in the nation.
Scott Gottbreht
Scott Gottbreht is presently the Director of Policy Debate at Johns Hopkins University where he is pursuing a PhD in Critical Theory at the Humanities Center of Johns Hopkins. He has formally been an assistant debate coach at Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and Georgetown University. He has been an assistant coach at the high-school level at St. Marks, Colleyville Heritage, Kelvin Park, Maine East High School, and College Prep.
Scott taught summer policy debate institutes at the Championship Debate Group, the Coon-Hardy and Zarefsky Scholars programs at Northwestern, the Michigan National Debate Institute, the Michigan Classic Debate Institute, and the Mean Green Workshops at North Texas. We are excited that Scott will join us again this summer!
Sherry Hall
Sherry is the co-director of the Harvard Debate Council. She has spent the better half of her life coaching high school and college debaters. This summer will mark her 27th year of working with high school students at debate camps. She has coached one NDT championship team, one CEDA national championship team, two Copeland Award winners (which recognizes the outstanding debate team in the nation at the end of the "regular" season), two top-speakers at CEDA and one at the NDT, numerous final round appearances at the NDT, and the winners of every major college tournament including: The Kentucky Round Robin, The Dartmouth Round Robin, The Henry Clay Debates, Wake Forest, Northwestern, USC, Fullerton and Georgia State. She was named "Coach of the Year" at the Wake Forest University Franklin Shirley Classic tournament in 2006.
As a debater and then a young coach, Sherry was concerned with the underrepresentation of women and people-of-color as participants and coaches. She, along with Rebecca Bjork, initiated a "grass-roots" level project in the 1990s to bring issues of concern to the attention of the community by establishing group discussion seminars at tournaments. She encouraged those who ran summer institutes to promote diversity in their hiring and to hold similar group discussion seminars to encourage student participation and feedback. While the bulk of her time is dedicated to the Harvard Debate Council and the college debate circuit, she has established a significant presence in high school debate as well. Partnered with Colin Kahl at Michigan, she started the intensive seven-week camp for juniors and ran that program for six summers. She has been the editor-in-chief of the Planet Debate evidence database (formerly HARVEX) for two decades. She is the tournament director for the Harvard High School National Invitational Forensics Tournament which draws over 3,000 competitors a year.
John Hines
John coaches debate at College Preparatory School in Oakland, California. He has been involved in debate for more than 20 years. In the early 90's he was a UIL State Champion and Golden Gavel Speaker from Grapevine HS. He went on to compete for the University of North Texas were he reached late elimination rounds in every major tournament including Finals of Harvard in 2000. He also competed at the prestigious Dartmouth and Kentucky Round Robins and was a First-Round at Large Bid recipient to the 2001 NDT.
As a coach, he has also been highly successful in both the high school and collegiate ranks. Mr. Hines has qualified numerous teams for elimination rounds at the TOC (including the finalists from St. Mark's in 2001). As a graduate assistant coach at UNT, John's students cleared and received speaker awards at nearly every major tournament, including making an appearance in the quarterfinal round of the CEDA National tournament in 2003.
Professor Hines has also taught lab groups at Stanford National Forensic Institute, The University of Kansas Jayhawk Institute, the California National Debate Institute at Berkeley, and The Seattle Urban Debate League summer Institute.
Dan Lingel
Mr. Lingel joins us from Jesuit College Prep in Dallas, Texas. Dan is widely regarded as one of the most talented coaches in the nation. His passion for debate is unparalleled. As the former president of the National Debate Coaches Association (NDCA), Lingel has traveled the country spreading debate love and advocating for the survival and growth of countless programs. Dan has worked at numerous workshops over the past several years, including the esteemed Northwestern University program.
Dan's teams have had enormous success, including TFA State Champions in 2000 and 2002 (finalists in 2001). Under his direction, Jesuit has also advanced four teams to elimination rounds in 2005 (with two teams in the semis) and three teams to the elims in 2006 (one team in quarters). He has also coached teams to the semis or finals of Greenhill, St. Mark's, Emory, Berkeley, Lexington, and Redlands.
Dan has earned his place as a Key Coach of Emory's Barkeley Forum, and he is also considered one of the most highly preferred judges in the nation. In addition to directing their debate program, Mr. Lingel serves Jesuit College Prep as a counselor and the academic advisor to the entire junior class. We are thrilled to have him join us again this summer!
Calum Matheson
Calum is perhaps the most renowned young teacher in the debate community today. His reputation precedes him as an outstanding competitor, talented speaker and distinguished lab leader.
Calum started his success in high school by winning Top Speaker at the Glenbrooks, EGR, MBA, and others. He continued to claim numerous speaking awards throughout his collegiate career, including Top Speaker at CEDA Nationals, Northwestern, Georgia State, Fullerton, USC, Kentucky, the Kentucky Round Robin, and Harvard. Calum's three NDT First Round Bid years included Champion at Northwestern & the Kentucky Round Robin in addition to countless late elimination round appearances at every major national tournament. He was a finalist at CEDA Nationals and two-time semifinalist at the National Debate Tournament.
Calum was selected as the Most Preferred Critic at the 2004 CEDA Nationals Tournament. He was the director of the Fellows Program at the University of Kentucky for two years, and has been an institute instructor since 1999 at workshops including Northwestern, Michigan State, Kentucky, and the University of Michigan. He is currently serving as an assistant coach at the University of North Texas. We are proud to have Calum join us once again!
Dr. Tracy McFarland
Dr. McFarland is the Associate Director of Debate as Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas, Texas. Tracy is the 2002 recipient of the Acolyte Coach of the Year Award presented annually at the St. Mark's tournament by past award winners to the most outstanding Associate Director of the preceding season. In this capacity, Tracy has been instrumental in returning the well established Jesuit program to national prominence.
Jesuit's teams have had enormous success, including TFA State Champions in 2000, finalists in 2001, and champions again in 2002. Jesuit also advanced four teams to the elimination rounds in 2005, with two teams in semis, and three teams to the elims in 2006, with one team in quarters. Tracy has also coached teams to the semis or finals of Greenhill, St. Mark's, Emory, Berkeley, Lexington, and Redlands. In 2005, she coached a team to a second place finish at JV Nationals held at Woodward Academy.
Tracy has also worked for institutes held at Northwestern, Michigan, and Baylor. In addition to coaching and teaching at Jesuit, she recently completed her Doctorate in international relations and comparative politics at the University of Texas-Austin. Dr. McFarland will be working with us in an administrative/consulting role this summer.
Jane Munksgaard
Jane is currently a PhD student in Communication at the University of Georgia and an assistant coach for the College Preparatory School in San Francisco, California. She earned her Master's degree at the University of Iowa while also serving as an assistant coach. Her previous workshop experience includes 3 years as a senior faculty member at Wake Forest and one summer leading the top lab at the University of Miami-Ohio.
Jane debated for the University of Pittsburgh from 2001-2005 and the University of West Georgia from 2005-2006. During her days at Pitt, Jane reached the elims of nearly every major national tournament, including a Quarterfinals appearance at the 2004 USC tournament. At West Georgia Jane cleared at every tournament she attended, including Harvard and the NDT, and also was a top twenty-five speaker at a variety of national and regional tournaments.
Martin Osborn
Martin, or "Ozzie" (as he is better known), comes to us as one of the most decorated college debaters of the past few seasons. In 2008, he concluded his career at Missouri State by winning Top Speaker at both the NDT and CEDA national tournaments and finishing in the semifinals at both. The four-time NDT qualifier and winner of CEDA's Brian "Baby Jo" Johnston Debater of the Year Award for the 2007-2008 season, Ozzie advanced to the elimination rounds and received a Top Ten Speaker award at every major national collegiate tournament including Georgia State, Kentucky (where he was the Top Seed in 2006 and Top Speaker in 2007), Harvard, Wake Forest, both legs of the California Swing, Northwestern, and UT Austin.
As a high-school debater, Martin ranked 7th at NFL Nationals - the best showing in Cheyenne East High School's history. He was also one of the first two teams from his school to qualify for the TOC. He has previously worked at the Kansas University Jayhawk Debate Institute, University of Missouri Kansas City Debate Institute, Wyoming Forensics Institute, Missouri State Debate Institute, Michigan University's Classic, and the Michigan State Spartan Debate Institute. We are very pleased that Ozzie will be joining us this summer!
Louie Petit
Louie will be joining Mean Green Workshops after completing his first year as the Assistant Director of Debate at the University of North Texas. Louie previously coached at Missouri State University where he earned his Masters in Communication Studies. He debated at William Jewell College where he win several speaker awards and elimination rounds as a collegiate debater.
Coach of 2008 National Debate Tournament and Cross Examination Debate Association National Tournament Semifinalist, Louie has established himself as one of the nation's top rising collegiate coaches. In just three years, he coached two teams to a First Round At Large Bid to the National Debate Tournament as well as the Top Speaker at the 2008 National Debate Tournament, 2008 CEDA National Tournament, and the 2008 University of Kentucky Tournament.
Louie has immense experience working with high school students. He taught at the University of Kansas Jayhawk Debate Institute, Spartan Debate Institute, Missouri State University Debate Institute, and University of Missouri Kansas City Summer Debate Institute
Ernie Querido
Mr. Querido is the Graduate Assistant Debate Coach at the University of Miami. Ernie's teams have cleared to the elimination rounds of numerous national level tournaments, including Greenhill, the Greenhill RR, Wake Forest, Dowling, Florida Blue Key, USC, the Glenbrooks, the USC Round Robin, Redlands, Blake, MBA, Berkeley, and the TOC. He also coached the co-Champions of the 2007 California Round Robin. Ernie has also fielded nationally competitive LDers (qualifying three to the TOC), Congress competitors, and Extempers.
Ernie has several interests outside of coaching debate and cutting cards, including playing the bass and catering office parties. (Yeah, you read that right.) Ernie has currently taken the year off from full-time teaching to write a high school policy debate textbook, geared toward getting younger and smaller programs to become more competitive.
Nicole Richter
Nicole is the Assistant Director of Debate at the University of Miami, where she teaches in the Motion Pictures Program. She holds a Master's degree in Film Studies and will be completing her PhD in Communication this May. Nicole debated for Concordia College. During her college career she participated in elimination rounds at several national tournaments including the NDT, Kentucky, CEDA Nationals, USC, and Fullerton, receiving numerous speaker awards along the way. She won many tournaments, including Baylor, Emporia, Macalester, and Loyola. She qualified for the NDT first from her district two years in a row. She has coached high school debate at the Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Spanish River, and Fargo North, qualifying numerous teams for the Tournament of Champions. She has also been a very successful coach in Public Forum, working with one of the top ranked teams in the country, Ransom Everglades. Nicole is committed to increasing participation of females and minorities in debate. She works to further critical argumentation in debate because she believes it is a vital aspect of education and student development.
Lauren Sabino
Lauren attended Canton Central Catholic in Ohio, which she represented at the TOC with 4 bids her senior year. She was a Top 10 speaker at NFA, Blake, Wake Forest, Valley, and Maine East, among others.
Lauren attended Wake Forest University, where she won JV nationals as a sophomore. As a junior, she won the Liberty tournament, cleared at UNT, UTD, West Georgia, and was in quarters of UT. This year, she cleared at GSU, Fullerton, Kentucky, won Liberty again, and reached the semis of West Georgia.
Ms. Sabino has coached debate at Little Rock Central and taught as a WDI scholar.
Toby Whisenhunt
Formerly an assistant coach at Grapevine High School, Mr. Whisenhunt serves as Director of Debate at Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas. Toby graduated from Amarillo High School, where he successfully competed in policy debate and numerous individual events. Mr. Whisenhunt graduated from West Texas A&M University having debated four years at the collegiate level. Toby is consistently a favorite staff member among students who attend the workshops. We are excited to have him with us again this summer!
2009 Lab Assistants
Dan Rowe
Dan graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, Texas. During his senior year, Dan has been extraordinarily competitive on the national circuit, including tournaments at Grapevine, Memorial, St. Mark's, Glenbrooks, and the University of Texas Tournament and Round Robin. Dan and his colleague received TOC bids at Texas and Colleyville, making them the first team from his school to qualify for the Kentucky Tournament of Champions. Dan also enjoyed great success on the local and state levels, including winning first place and the top speaker award from numerous TFA tournaments and reaching the semifinals of UIL state.
Grant Peretz
Grant graduated from Glenbrook South High School in 2008, where he enjoyed a successful debate career. After being the only team of juniors to clear at the 2007 Tournament of Champions, Grant and his partner reached the elimination rounds of numerous national tournaments this year, including the quarterfinals of Greenhill, the semifinals of Blake, the quarterfinals of Harvard, and 1st place at the Illinois State Championships. Grant also won numerous individual speaker awards, including 1st place at Greenhill and Marquette.
...and more to be announced soon! |
