Seniors

Dan Fitzmier, Ph. D, is the Director of Debate at Northwestern University. He has worked as an assistant coach at University of California at Berkeley, Northwestern, and Emory.  Dan has coached five teams from Emory and Northwestern to the final round of the NDT with four wins.   Coached three Copeland award winning teams from Berkeley and Northwestern, and coached 13 teams to First Round bids.  This will be Dan’s 18th institute he has taught at. 

Chris Lundberg, Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a former debate coach at Northwestern and Emory and has coached multiple NDT champions.  Chris debated for Redlands University and was an NDT quarterfinalist. Chris is known for his engaging and innovative teaching style that teaches debaters to successfully confront all styles of argumentation. The numbers simply speak for themselves.  Members of Chris’s lab have won the last 3 TOC’s.  Since Chris began teaching the senior lab at Northwestern 75% of final round participants have spent a summer learning from him.

Calum Matheson is an assistant debate coach at the University of North Texas, and Glenbrook South High School, and has coached TOC finalists and NFL champions. He was recently awarded the Acolyte Award as the best assistant coach in high school debate.  During his college career he had three NDT First Round Bids, was a Northwestern Tournament and Kentucky Round Robin champion, Top Speaker at CEDA Nationals, Northwestern, Georgia State, Fullerton, USC, Kentucky, the Kentucky Round Robin, and Harvard. He was a finalist at CEDA Nationals and twice a semifinalist at the NDT.  Calum is childhood friends with Nate Silver.

Matt Fisher is a sophomore Northwestern debater and the 2008 Wake Forest and Kentucky Tournament champion, 2008 Kentucky Round Robin runner-up, and 2008 NDT quarter-finalist. He is a TOC champion, TOC top speaker, and NFL champion for Glenbrook North High School. He has previously taught at the Northwestern Zarefsky Scholars Debate Institute, and at the Berkeley Summer Institute. 

Stephanie Spies is a sophomore debater at Northwestern University and has reached elimination rounds of the 2008 Georgia State, Kentucky, Harvard and Wake Forest tournaments. She was the 2007 TOC and NFL champion for Glenbrook North High School. Stephanie has previously taught at the Northwestern Zarefsky Scholars Debate Institute.  Stephanie works with the Glenbrook North team during the school year.

Mary Gregg is a Northwestern debater and the 2008 Wayne State Tournament champion and 2nd speaker, in addition to clearing at the Wake Forest Tournament. She has previously taught at the Northwestern Coon-Hardy Scholars Workshop. Mary works as an assistant Oak Park River Forest High School.

Juniors

Jonathan Paul is the Director of Debate at Georgetown University. He is a former debate coach at Greenhill where he coached TOC champions in 2006 and 2008. Jonathan is a former Northwestern debater and 2002 NDT Champion. He has previously taught at the Northwestern Zarefsky Scholars Debate Institute.

Greg Achten is the Director of Debate at the University of California at Berkeley. He has coached multiple Copeland Award winners and NDT finalists, and CEDA champions and has previously taught at the Northwestern Zarefsky Scholars Debate Institute.  Greg is also probably the funniest and coolest dude in recent debate history and holds the best record in college debate, thus is eternally the best debater.

Jeff Buntin is a new addition to the Northwestern University coaching staff.  Previously, he served as an assistant at Gonzaga his teams appeared in elimination rounds of the NDT, CEDA Nationals, and the Kentucky Round Robin.  As a debater for Whitman, Jeff was in elims of every major tournament, including quarters at CEDA Nationals, octos at the NDT, and the finals at Berkeley. Jeff has also taught at several high school camps, and has a keen kritikal cognition.

John Warden is a senior Northwestern debater and two-time NDT quarterfinalist. He is the 2008 Wake Forest and Kentucky tournament champion, runner-up at the 2008 Kentucky Round Robin and Harvard Tournaments, and has cleared at virtually every college tournament in his career. In high school John was a TOC Finalist at Chattahoochee. He has previously taught at the Northwestern Zarefsky Scholars Debate Institute, and at Berkeley Summer Institutes.

Tripp Rebrovick is a senior debater at Harvard University. This year Tripp has appeared in the semifinals of Wake Forest where he was the second speaker.  He was also the second speaker at the Kentucky Round Robin.  He was a 2008 NDT octa-finalist and 2007 NDT quarter-finalist. In high school he was the TOC top speaker for Montgomery Bell Academy.  This will be Tripp’s 4th summer teaching at Northwestern.

Rob Mulholand is a senior debater at Northwestern. He has been in elimination rounds of the 2008 Georgia State, Kentucky, and Wake Forest tournaments. He received a 2008 NDT First Round Bid and was a 2007 Georgia State Tournament finalist. Rob has previously taught at the Northwestern Zarefsky Scholars Debate Institute.

Caitlin Bruce is an Assistant Debate Coach and graduate student at Northwestern Univeristy.  Caitlin debated for Northwestern for 4 years, receiving a First Round invitation to the NDT in 2008.  She has served as an assistant coach at Maine East High School helping her teams clear at tournaments across the country.  In high school Caitlin cleared at the TOC debating for Bronx Science.

Kathy Bowen is a sophomore debater at the University of California, Berkeley. She has reached elimination debates at the 2008 Gonzaga, USC, and Fullerton tournaments. She and her partner were champions of the 2008 Wake Forest freshman/sophomore breakout. In 2007 she was a TOC quarter-finalist and the fourth speaker. Kathy has qualified for the 2009 NDT.   She has previously taught at the Berkeley Summer Debate Institute and the Gonzaga Debate Institute. 

Mima Lazarevic is a junior debater at the University of Southern California.  In the 2008-9 season Mima and her partner have won the Gonzaga and Cal Berkeley tournaments and broken at every major national competition.  They also received a first round invitation to the 2009 NDT.  During high school Mima was in the finals of the TOC debating for Glenbrook South and was second speaker at the tournament.  Previously Mima, has taught at 

Sophomore Lab

Tara Tate is the Director of Debate at Glenbrook South High School. She is a highly successful coach and has taught at numerous institutes including Michigan, Michigan State , University of North Texas, and Miami (OH). Tara has coached TOC finalists, TOC Top Speakers, and NFL Champions.  Tara is known for her excellent teaching skills and work with young debaters.  We are excited to welcome her on board to direct our Sophomore lab experience.

Seth Gannon is a senior debater  at Wake Forest University and is the 2008 NDT champion. In 2007-8 season he won the Kentucky Round Robin and West Georgia Tournaments. He also was top speaker at the University of Texas tournament, second speaker at West Georgia, and fourth speaker at USC. Seth was a TOC semi-finalist at the Woodward Academy. Seth is an assistant coach for his alma mater.

Jordan Blumenthal debates for Northwestern University and is the 2008 Kentucky tournament freshman breakout champion. He was a TOC semi finalist in 2008 and 4th speaker while debating at the St. Mark’s School.  In high school Jordan cleared to late elimination rounds at every major tournament.  He currently serves as an assistant coach for the St. Mark’s squad.

3 week staff

LaTonya Starks is an alumna of Morgan Park High School, where she debated for the Chicago Urban Debate League.  She then received a scholarship to debate at Northwestern University, where she was the first African-American woman to debate for four years.  She competed successfully at the Cross-Examination Debate Association Nationals and was an All-American Debater.  Upon graduation, LaTonya became an Assistant Director of Debate at Northwestern University, where she successfully coached a team to a championship at the National Debate Tournament.  LaTonya also served as Coordinator of the Chicago Urban Debate League, coaching to a championship at the Fuqua Junior Varsity Nationals.  LaTonya currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she is the Director of the Milwaukee Debate League.  LaTonya will be the Director of the Three-Week Summer Institute at Northwestern University.

Greg Friend debates at Northwestern and is the 2008 Wayne State Tournament champion and 1st speaker, in addition to clearing at the Wake Forest Tournament. He qualified for the 2008 NDT, and won the Kentucky Tournament freshman breakout in 2006. He was a TOC semi-finalist and NFL top speaker for Glenbrook North High School.

Ryan Beiermeister debates for Northwestern University and is the 2008 Kentucky tournament freshman breakout champion. She was a TOC semi finalist in 2008 and 4th speaker while debating at the Kinkaid School. In high school Ryan cleared to late elimination rounds at every major tournament, including the finals of the Glenbrooks. This will be Ryan’s first summer teaching at the Northwestern Debate Institute.

Institute Coordinator

Luke Hill has been involved in policy debate for the past decade.  He is currently the Program Coordinator for the Northwestern Debate Society.  Prior to this Luke coached at Chattahoochee High School where he coached debaters to the elimination rounds of every major national tournament and two Novice National Championship teams.  Luke has also coached at Glenbrook North and Oak Park River Forest.  This is Luke’s 6th summer working at Northwestern.

 

Stay tuned for new staff additions