Dr. Brian Lain, Policy Debate Director

Dr. Brian Lain comes to the workshop having completed his seventh 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.

2012 Lab Leaders Coming Soon!

Andy Casey

Andy Casey is joining the staff of the Mean Green Workshops after his first year as an assistant debate coach at UNT. Andy has a Masters degree in Native American Studies from Oklahoma University and has previously coached at the University of Central Oklahoma and Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City. As a debater for the University of Central Oklahoma, Andy received multiple speaker awards and qualified for the elimination rounds of several tournaments including Wake Forest, Northwestern, the NDT and Quarterfinals of CEDA Nationals. Andy has coached multiple teams to qualify to the TOC and the NDT along with elimination round qualifiers at CEDA Nationals. He has also coached teams to the Oklahoma state championship in each of his years at Heritage Hall. Andy has years of institute experience working at the Jayhawk Debate Institute at Kansas University and the Baylor University Workshop.

Brett Farmer

Brett debated in eastern Kansas attending Blue Valley High School. He then debated and coached at Kansas State University during his undergraduate career. He is currently coaching and getting is masters in Communication at the University of North Texas.

RJ Giglio

(Bio Coming Soon)

Josh Gonzalez

Joshua Gonzalez is a Dean's Graduate Fellow and Assistant Coach for the University of Iowa's A. Craig Baird Debate Forum. Before joining the Hawkeyes this year, Josh was a Graduate Assistant at Wake Forest University, where he coached multiple first-round bid teams, including the 2009 finalists and semifinalists and quarterfinalists in 2010. Prior to Wake, Josh coached at Michigan State University, where he was a coach of the 2006 NDT champions. In addition to his college coaching experience, Josh coached for several years at Groves and Holland high schools in Michigan, qualifying multiple teams to the elimination rounds of the TOC and several Michigan state championships. Josh has led more than a dozen labs at several summer institutes, including the Mean Green Workshops, Miami University, and Michigan State.

Scott Gottbreht

Scott Gottbreht debated at the University of North Texas and Northwestern University. He has been an assistant coach at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. He has also been an assistant coach at Colleyville, St. Marks, and Maine East High Schools. He has taught at summer debate institutes for the previous 9 years at the Championship Debate Group, the Coon-Hardy and Zarefsky Scholars programs at Northwestern, and the MNDI and Classic at the University of Michigan. Scott is currently pursuing his PhD in critical theory at the Humanities Center at Johns Hopkins University. He is also currently the director of debate at Johns Hopkins University.

Formerly a coach at Kansas State University, Scott Herndon has been at The University of Texas at Dallas since 2002. In that time, UT Dallas has qualified for the NDT eight years in a row, received invitations to the Kentucky and the Dartmouth Round Robin competitions, reached the quarterfinals of the NDT in 2010 and the elimination debates of Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) nationals for eight consecutive years. An experienced instructor and judge, he has been a debate camp instructor at the World Debate Institute, Baylor University, International Debate Education Association Conference, UMKC and the University of Kansas. Scott has twice been recognized as the CEDA Southwest Region Critic of the Year once in 2004 and again in 2009.

Dan Lingel

Fresh off closing out the final round of the largest state tournament in the nation (TFA State), 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.

Dr. Tracy McFarland

Dr. McFarland is the Associate Director of Debate at Jesuit College Prep in Dallas. True to form, Tracy's teams recently closed out the final round of the TFA State Tournament, which is widely known as the most prestigious state high school tournament in the country. Tracy was inducted in the Barkley Forum Key Coaches Hall of Fame at Emory University in 2008, making Jesuit one of a few programs in the country with two key coaches on staff. Tracy was the 2002 recipient of the Acolyte Coach of the Year Award presented annually at the St. Mark's tournament.

Jesuit's teams have had enormous success, including TFA State Champions in 2010, 2002, and 2000. Jesuit also advanced two teams to the semi-finals of TFA in both 2005 and 2007. Beyond the state of Texas, Tracy has also coached teams to the late elimination rounds of Greenhill, New Trier, St. Mark's, Emory, Berkeley, Lexington, and Redlands.

Tracy has worked for institutes held at Northwestern, Michigan, and Baylor before joining the staff of UNT. In addition to coaching and teaching at Jesuit, she completed her Doctorate in international relations and comparative politics at the University of Texas-Austin. She is also the current chair of the National Debate Coaches Association and serves as VP of Programming for the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance.

Louie Petit

Louie will be joining Mean Green Workshops after completing his second 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.

Colin Quinn

Colin graduated from Glenbrook South High School in 2009, where he enjoyed a successful debate career. Colin and his partner reached the elimination rounds of numerous national tournaments that year, including the quarterfinals of Blake, the Octofinals of Berkeley, 1st place at Marquette, and 5th place at the Illinois State Championships. As a sophomore college debater he has placed at most district tournaments including quarterfinals at Missouri State and Emporia State and semifinals at the University of Missouri-Kansas City tournament as well as the Wichita State Tournament. He was also in the quarterfinals of the Freshman/Sophomore breakout at the Wake Forest tournament and Quarterfinals of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Tournament.

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.

Geoff Smith

Geoff debated and South Garland High School and finished his collegiate debate career at Southern Illinois University, where he cleared at every major college tournament, including the NDT and a quarter final appearance at CEDA Nationals, winning a few speaker awards along the way. Geoff has coached at Grapevine HS, Highland Park HS of Dallas, and the University of North Texas. He is currently the Director of Debate at Wakeland HS in Frisco, TX. He has taught at the Baylor Debate Institute, the University of Texas Institute, and the Gonzaga Debate Institute. This will be his second year with Mean Green Workshops.

Sarah Spring

Sarah Spring is a PhD candidate and assistant debate coach at the University of Iowa. Previously, Sarah was the Director of Debate at Miami University and an assistant coach at Wake Forest. Sarah has coached teams into the the elims of national tournaments and to the finals of the NDT. She has led labs at Kansas, Michigan State, Iowa and Miami. Sarah also directed the Miami Debate Institute. As a debater at Miami University, Sarah cleared twice at the NDT, cleared at many national tournaments, and won the Wayne State and John Carroll Tournaments.

Tara Tate

Tara Tate is the director of debate at Glenbrook South High School in Illinois. Prior to GBS, Tara coached at Colleyville Heritage (TX), The Blake School (MN), and the University of North Texas. Tara served as President of the NDCA from 2006-2009 and is currently the chair of its Executive Board. (In addition to serving as a member of the Board of the NDCA) Tara has also been a member of the NFHS Topic Wording Committee and served as chair for the 2010 meeting. Tara has also served as chair of the Northern Illinois NFL District and currently serves as a committee member. She has also served as the debate chair for the Illinois Speech and Theatre Association and has been a debate liaison for the Illinois High Schools Association. Tara is a past recipient of the NDCA Educator of the Year Award, the Acolyte Award, and is a member of Emory University's Key Coach Society. Tara has coached champions of most of the major national circuit tournaments and had a team win the 2010 David P. Baker Cup.

Christopher Thomas

Chris debated in Eastern Kansas for four years at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Kansas City. He attended and debated for the University of Kansas for three years from 2005- 2008. From 2009-2011 he debated and coached at the University of Texas at San Antonio.Chris had three showings at CEDA; making it to the triples(2008), Doubles (2010) and Octo-Finals (2009). He qualified to the National Debate Tournament twice; 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. Chris has lead summer debate labs at both the University of North Texas and the University of Wyoming. He has coached CX teams at Reagan High School and Winston Churchill High School, both in the San Antonio TX area. Chris graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2011 with a degree in History.

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. In his free time, he enjoys frisbee golf and stunt-doubling for DJ Qualls.

Brian Kersch

Brian Kersch debates for the University of North Texas. As a freshman he was in seminfinals of JV nationals. Brian cleared at several national tournaments his sophomore year including: UTD, UNLV, Wichita State, and Gonzaga. Brian is an assistant coach at an Urban Debate League school; Law Magnet High School in Dallas Texas and helped qualify the school's first team for the Tournament of Champions.

Reka Fink

Prior to UNT, Reka debated at Edina High School in Edina, Minnesota for four years and attended the workshops twice. As a freshman at North Texas, Reka advanced to elimination rounds at Wichita State, University of Texas at Dallas, and to double octa-finals of the NJDDT. She is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in political science; this will be her second summer as a member of the workshop staff.

PJ Martinez

PJ Martinez is an incoming Freshman at the University of North Texas. He debated for four years at Mercedes High School in Mercedes, TX. He competed on both the University Interscholastic League and Texas Forensic Association circuits throughout his high school career and made it to elimination rounds of both those state tournaments three times. This included multiple showings in TOC bid rounds. This culminated in a final showing of quarter-finals at the Texas Forensic Association state tournament and first place at the University Interscholastic League 4A state tournament. PJ enjoys poetry, warm summer evenings, and long walks on moonlit beaches.

Farhad Mirzadeh

Farhad debated at Grapevine High School for four years. At Grapevine, he reached the elims of numerous local and TOC tournaments by his senior year, including an appearance in the semi-finals of the TFA State Tournament. Farhad is now a third year debater at UNT where he has placed at many tournaments, including: UTD, UCO, UMKC, Emporia, and JV Nationals. He has also coached at Grapevine High School where his teams cleared at many TFA and TOC tournaments.

Amy Schade

Amy Schade joins us after her first year of college debate UNT. While in high school, Amy attended Grapevine High School in Grapevine, Texas. Amy enjoyed success on the TFA debate circuit and attended the TOC two times. Amy attended the Mean Green Workshops three summers in a row and attributes a lot of her success to this program. As a collegiate debater, Amy attended many district and national tournaments and broke at every district and seminational tournament she attended. Amy also worked as an assistant debate coach at Grapevine High School and had debaters clear at many tournaments and qualify to the TFA state tournament.

Kiersten Strachan

Kiersten is an incoming Freshman for the University of Oklahoma. She debated for Clear Lake High School in Houston, Texas for four years. A four time Texas Forensic Association qualifier, Kiersten made it to out rounds of various TOCs, the tenth round of competition at the 2010 NFL Nationals and received a bid her senior year.

Resident Philosopher

Keith Brown

Keith Wayne Brown, Program Manager at UNT's Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity, studied philosophy at the University of North Texas, focusing on existential phenomenology and especially the work of Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, and Jose Ortega y Gasset. Keith has served in a number of capacities for the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies at UNT, including as Executive Director of the North Texas Heidegger Symposium. He has also served as a Program Director for both the Karl Jaspers Society of North America and the Society for Phenomenology in the Human Sciences. Active in the study of Popular Culture, Keith has presented papers on Television, Film, and Anime as providing philosophic material for transdisciplinary outreach to the public at large beyond the walls of the University. Since 2008, he has been the Philosopher in Residence for the Mean Green Debate Camp.