NFA

Last call for Council nominations - due May 1st! Open positions are: - At-large (2 positions) - VP of Tournament Administration - Graduate Student Representative - Lincoln Douglas Debate Committee (3 positions) Nominations should include a bio or nomination statement and a photo. Please send nominations or questions to [email protected].

Remember to submit original LD topic papers to [email protected] by May 1st! This year’s topic rotation is Domestic Social/Legal. Paper Requirements: • Topic rationale • Definitions • 5-6 resolution wordings • Solvency advocate examples • 6-7 affirmative advantages • Negative ground: •3-4 disadvantages •2-3 counterplans •3-4 kritiks • Works cited

This year, we will be posting each Hall of Fame Inductee to congratulate them for this accomplishment! Our final Hall of Fame Inductee is Craig Heyne! Craig had out rounds at NFA in poetry, prose, DI, Duo, POI, ADS, and Rhetorical Criticism. Unfortunately, his senior year the national tournaments were cancelled due to COVID. However, he received an NFA Performance of Distinction in DI, POI, Rhetorical Criticism and a Performance of Highest Distinction in Duo Interpretation. As his former coach wrote, [his] “Freshman year, he had a lot of questions. When he wondered, “what do college judges look for?” he sat down and read our nationals ballots from the previous year…all of them…and used what he learned to help his teammates. By his sophomore year, he was elected by his peers as an officer on the ISU team, and as the NFA Junior Representative. In his two years as the NFA Representative, this nominee recommended and advocated for many of the access policies we take for granted including e-ballots, quiet rooms and the open-door policy. This nominee wanted to know “why NFA didn’t have POI?” He then proceeded to write a proposal to get it added – and pushed until POI was passed as an event at NFA. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2020 season, he was the voice on the NFA Council who proposed a video archive of the work of the senior class, a project which eventually became the Performances of Distinction. He was an NFA student representative who cared deeply for the student body and advocated on behalf of the students. Upon graduation, he accepted a job with the game company What Do You Meme. There he applied his experience of bridging competition with communication to designing and marketing card games – some of which we use for Impromptu drills. Recently, he switched to marketing Bloom beverages. But his heart has never left Forensics. He still shows up for work weekends, reads scripts, reaches out to students. Craig is someone that has never stopped working to make the activity better and more welcoming for all students. We want to thank Craig for his contribution to our community!!!

This year, we will be posting each Hall of Fame Inductee to congratulate them for this accomplishment! Our third Hall of Fame inductee is Saeed Malami! Saeed joined the Speech and Debate team because it sounded intriguing to him. Despite having zero Forensics experience, he brought an immense level of enthusiasm, creativity, and dedication. In 2019 he won the Interstate Oratorical Competition while quarterfinaling in DI and Persuasion at NFA. His senior year was a constant stream of final rounds and first place trophies. At the end of his forensics journey, when all of the National tournaments were cancelled due to COVID, he was named by NFA as the overall Performer of Highest Distinction while winning Highest Distinction status in Poetry and Rhetorical Criticism. I’m sure that the last few months of his collegiate forensics career will always feel like a question mark to him but he took it in stride. His coach recounts this nominee shrugging and saying, “I know my shit was good. I’m proud of it. I don’t need more than that.” More recently, this nominee works as a coder and web designer for Amazon, but for his side hustle he wrote a television treatment for a pilot, and has been in several meetings in LA regarding its production. We thank Saeed for his contributions to the community and wish him luck with the pilot!!!

This year, we will be posting each Hall of Fame Inductee to congratulate them for this accomplishment! Our second inductee into the Hall of Fame is Rob Layne! Rob was a highly successful forensic competitor in individual events, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Parliamentary (NPDA) Debate. He also served as the NFA-LD Student Representative for 2000-2001. He was the Assistant Speech and Debate Coach at Central Michigan University, the Assistant Director of Forensics at Willamette University, an Assistant Debate Coach for Texas Tech University and later Director of Forensics at Texas Tech and finally at the University of Utah he coached debate while pursuing his PhD. This inductee has taken his forensics knowledge to make a difference in the world. Currently he is the Senior Communication Strategist for the City of Portland, Oregon. As coaches, we frequently extol this activity as an opportunity to develop and expand transferable skills. As the primary strategist and spokesperson for City’s response to the unhoused crisis, he used every public speaking and argumentative practice that he learned, coached, and taught to move the needle in changing public perception in addressing Portland’s approach to the unhoused. As a former teammate said, this nominee’s greatest strength is his pursuit of communication scholarship materializing in praxis for marginalized communities, much in the model of rhetorical criticism and the critical turn in LD. He translated his academic work and advocacy skills into powerful tools for social activism especially within the LGBTQ+ community. We want to thank Rob for his contributions to the community!

This year, we will be posting each Hall of Fame Inductee to congratulate them for this accomplishment! Our first Hall of Fame Inductee is Irene Ziegler! In 1976, Irene placed 6th in Prose Interpretation, 2nd in Persuasive Speaking, and was the National Champion in Informative Speaking as well as the Pentathlon Champion. She is a multi-published and produced playwright, and a theatre, film and television actor. Her participation in Dramatic Duos contributed to her career, and her speech writing skills inform all aspects of her profession, from grant writing to creating one-woman shows. She has co-edited a number of monologue and short-scene collections for Smith & Kraus, many of which are used by forensics teams or in theater classes. As her nominator, John Capecci wrote, “I can say that Irene remains to this day one of the most vocal ambassadors of forensic activity. She speaks passionately about its value and is living proof of the excellent educational and creative springboard it has been for so many.” Thank you Irene for your immense contributions to our community!

Hi everyone!!! Its almost awards time. If you want to follow along with all of the action, join our livestream. The link is /live/EWIeBCPihKg?si=Nj3B2kj3tW9d79JD

Scan this QR code for access to NFA's Award Sensory Guide. NFA will provide earplugs for any competitors who would like them. Thank you to Special Education Instructor Faith Hincapie for this resource!!

Hi everyone!! The quiet room for awards will be in Floyd-Payne Center room 217.

Happy day five of NFA!!!! As a reminder, the wellness room has moved for today!!

Hi everyone!!! Quarterfinal postings will be happening in Elliott Auditorium in Elliott Hall. Happy Quarters!

Hi Hello Everyone!!! Just a friendly reminder for judges and competitors to avoid writing on the smart boards, especially with expo markers. Thank you!!