<p><strong>2014 HBCU National Speech and Debate Championship</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Wiley College, The Home of The Great Debaters, is proud to invite you to first HBCU National Speech and Debate Championship.&nbsp; This undertaking has been the culmination of three years of hard work.&nbsp; This tournament represents an opportunity for HBCU students to compete against their peers.&nbsp; In addition, this is an opportunity for represented schools to come together and create an Forensics Organization for HBCUs.&nbsp;</p> <p>The organization we seek to create will have oversight of this tournament and also seek to spread speech and debate education and competition to HBCUs all over the country.&nbsp; The skills that are learned in speech and debate are valuable tools for students in the classroom.&nbsp; For this reason, this newly formed organization will seek to promote forensics education in all HBCUs.</p> <p>The tournament itself will feature two types of debate and twelve individual events.&nbsp; In addition to NPDA Debate, IPDA Debate, and the eleven American Forensics Association Events, this tournament will also feature a Slam Poetry event.&nbsp; The finals of Slam Poetry will be held at the banquet, with the awards ceremony immediately following the round.</p> <p>The administration of Wiley College should be commended for their commitment to this endeavor.&nbsp; This tournament, through Wiley&rsquo;s administrative support and other sponsorships, will present this tournament with no entry fees, which includes a free banquet at the conclusion of the tournament.</p> <p>Finalists in all events will receive trophies.&nbsp; Sweepstakes trophies for Individual Events, Debate and Overall will also be awarded.&nbsp; The overall champion trophy has been designed by David Newton, &nbsp;the sculptor who designed the sculptures in Dallas&rsquo;s Freedmen&rsquo;s Park.</p> <p>Lastly, this tournament will see the creation of a Hall of Fame.&nbsp; The inductees will be honored at the awards banquet for their years of service and promotion of, and excellence in, Speech and Debate.</p> <p>If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.&nbsp; We are very excited about this tournament and look forward to hosting this event.</p> <p>Respectfully,</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Christopher Medina</p> <p>Director of Forensics</p> <p>Wiley College</p> <p><a href=\"mailto:cmedina@wileyc.edu\">cmedina@wileyc.edu</a></p> <p>972-439-5684 cell</p>