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Classic Debate Camp
Miami University, Ohio - July 12-20, 2025
National Champions in Public Forum and National Runner-Up in Lincoln-Douglas Join Classic Debate Camp™ Staff!
Altogether 7 NSDA/NCFL champions taught at Classic Debate Camp-Virtual last summer
Sasha Haines and Maggie Mills, the Public Forum debaters who won the 2020 NSDA national tournament, were both instructors at Classic Debate Camp in 2020. They joined their coach, Mr. Rich Haber, who taught at Classic Debate Camp in 2019 and is now the PF curriculum coordinator. (See their bios on the PF Staff page.) Shreyaa Nagajothi, the Lincoln-Douglas debater who finished the national tournament in 2nd place and who also won 5th in the LD Speaker Awards, was an instructor in our LD division - which focuses exclusively on traditional LD. (See her bio here.) The other five instructors who are national champions are Natalie Schaller, Maya Arora, Grace Johannes, David Lyons, and Kennedy Hughes. Shreyaa will be our second national runner-up, following Nehal Chigurupati, who won 2nd place in 2019.
Classic Debate Camp™ Congratulates Our Campers Who Competed at the 2020 NSDA National Tournament!
In Lincoln-Douglas, two CDC graduates advanced to round 14: Allie Dettelbach won 6th place (see more about Allie below), and Nehal Chigurupati won 5th. Nehal will be joining the CDC LD staff. (See his bio on the LD Staff page.) Additionally, ten other CDC campers advanced to elimination rounds at nationals this year: Robert Duncan and Destynn Keuchel both made it to the quarterfinal round in Big Questions. Then Robert did even better in Extemp Debate, reaching the semifinals and winning 4th! Brady Condon reached quarters in International Extemp while Isaac Stiepleman reached octafinals in US Extemp. In World Schools Debate, Kunal Ponkshe and Alex Ye advanced to the octafinal round while Jane Jusko advanced to double-octas. In PF, Sarah Hatem and Abby McGowan got to round 10. And in LD, Shruti Gautam and Dev Peyrat got to round 9. Congratulations to all the CDC grads who competed at nationals! We are proud of each one of you!
Classic Debate Camp™ PF Debater Wins New Mexico State Tournament Again and Joins CDC PF Staff!
Bella Willhite, of La Cueva HS in Albuquerque, and her partner Roland Zhang went 8-0 and won the 2020 New Mexico state title in Public Forum. The NM state tournament was held at Volcano Vista HS on the last weekend of February. Bella and Roland both attended Classic Debate Camp in 2018. Bella also won the NM state championship in 2019, but with a different partner. We are very happy to announce that Bella will be coming back to CDC this summer as an instructor in our PF division. See her bio on the PF Staff page.
Classic Debate Camp™ LD Debaters Face Each Other in City Club of Cleveland Debate
Each year, the City Club of Cleveland hosts the final round of Lincoln-Douglas debate in the Northcoast NSDA District and calls it the Cleveland High School Debate Championship. This year, junior Allie Dettelbach (camper in 2018) prevailed against sophomore Dev Peyrat (camper in 2018 and 2019). This is the third year in a row that the City Club Debate has been won by a Classic Debate Camp graduate. Last year, Tia Speece (camper in 2017) won the City Club, and in 2018 Isaiah Paik (camper in 2016 and 2017) won. Congrats to Allie and Dev!
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