The American Debate Association began in 1985 as an intercollegiate debate association. It uses the resolution selected by the Cross Examination Debate Association and the National Debate Tournament. Currently they have 40 member schools. Its current president is Danielle Verney-O'Gorman, Director of Debate at the United States Naval Academy. [1]
The ADA was founded in 1985. The ADA was founded to emphasize the argumentation and persuasive speech elements of policy debate, and to provide a training ground for novice debaters. It was formed in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, in Virginia, Maryland, DC and Pennsylvania.
2017-2018 Member Schools:
Boston College
California State University at Northridge
Concordia College
Emory University
Florida State University
George Mason University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
Indiana University
Liberty University
Michigan State University
Missouri State University
Northwestern University
Samford University
Trinity University
United States Naval Academy
University of California – Berkeley
University of Central Florida
University of Central Oklahoma
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Houston
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky
University of Mary Washington
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Nevada at Las Vegas
University of North Georgia
University of Southern California
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Dallas
University of West Georgia
Vanderbilt University
Wake Forest University
Wayne State University
Wichita State University
The ADA's mission of increasing participation, maintaining a balance between education and competition, and ensuring an equitable and fair activity for all programs, regardless of their size or experience is facilitated by the ADA's rules and is premised on the following assumptions:
1. Debate is a controlled discussion which analyzes the substantive issues raised by a particular policy proposition.
2. Debate is a persuasive, oral communication activity in which debaters assume the obligation to communicate reasons for positions taken in a manner that is coherent, intelligible, and consistent with the limitations on human speech and listening.
3. Debate tournaments will be run efficiently, honestly, and in a manner which promotes the educational values of debating for all participants.
4. Coaches and judges are educators whose job it is to effectively prepare students to debate, to objectively and fairy evaluate rounds of competition to which they are assigned, and to behave in an ethical and professional fashion.
5. Debate is an educational activity to be engaged in by undergraduates who are officially enrolled full-time students in good academic standing at the colleges and universities they represent in competition.
Follow this link for a webpage of the current American Debate Association debate rules: https://americandebateassociation.com/standing-rules/