The Lafayette Debates North American Championship will be held on April 8 & 9, 2017, at The George Washington University and the Embassy of France.
Preliminary rounds will be held on Saturday, April 8, 2017. at The George Washington University. Check-in on Saturday will be in Room 108, Funger Hall, 2201 G St NW, Washington, DC 20052. All Saturday rounds will be held in the GWU Academic Center (Philips and Rome).
Elimination rounds and the tournament reception will be held at the Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Rd NW, Washington, DC 20007 on Sunday, April 9, 2017.
Both teams advancing to finals and the top three individual speakers at the tournament will win Young Ambassadors Study Tours to Paris, France. Students must be in attendance at the awards ceremony with their passports in order to claim the study tour. Study tours included round trip airfare from Washington DC, lodging, ground transportation, and most meals in Paris.
Past winners of the Lafayette Debates Young Ambassadors Study Tour may debate at the tournament but are ineligible to claim the study tour a second time. The winners of the Elysee Treaty Debates Study Tour remain eligible to claim the Lafayette Debates Study Tour.
Schedule
Friday
6:00 - 8:00 pm: Registration
GWU - Lobby of the Marvin Center
800 21st St NW, Washington, DC 20052
Saturday
8:15 Late Registration
8:45 Team Check In & Breakfast (@ GWU)
9:00 Judge Check In
9:15 Opening Address & Judge Orientation
9:30 Round 1
11:15 Round 2
12:45 Lunch
1:30 Judge Check-In
2:00 Round 3
4:00 Round 4
Breaks announced ASAP
Sunday
8:45 Team Check In & Breakfast
9:00 Judge Check-In
9:15 Opening Address & Judge Orientation
9:30 Quarterfinals
11:30 Semifinals & Military Finals
1:00 Lunch
1:15 Judge Check In
2:00 Awards & Finals
Rules & Format
The Lafayette Debates North American Championship will consist of four preliminary rounds on Saturday, April 8, and break to quarterfinals on Sunday, April 9. The championship round and awards ceremony is scheduled to begin on Sunday at 2:00. All debaters are asked to attend the final round and awards ceremony.
Each round will involve two teams of two debaters each. One team will be assigned to affirm the 2016-17 Lafayette Debates topic. The other will be assigned to negate the topic.
The debates will employ a 6-4-6 cross examination format with one rebuttal from each team and two minutes of preparation time before each speech (excluding the opening affirmative speech) as follows:
1st Affirmative Speaker: 6 minutes
Cross examination by 2nd Negative Speaker: 4 minutes
1st Negative Speaker: 6 minutes
Cross examination by 1st Affirmative Speaker: 4 minutes
2nd Affirmative Speaker: 6 minutes
Cross examination by 1st Negative Speaker: 4 minutes
