Monash Association of Debaters

The Monash Association of Debaters (MAD) is a debating society at Monash University, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
History
The Monash Association of Debaters was founded in 1961, at the same time that Monash began teaching its first students. It quickly grew to become one of Australia's largest debating organisations, and now has over 400 members. Past office bearers of the Association include the current Treasurer of Victoria John Lenders and President of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Labor Party Bill Shorten.
Achievements
Along with the Oxford Union Society, it is the only university debating society to have ever won the World Universities Debating Championship in two consecutive years, and it has been a grand finalist in 10 of the last 14 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships. It is currently ranked 4th in the World Universities Debating Ranking.
Martin Sorensen
After winning both the 1992 and 1993 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships, MAD member Martin Sorensen died from cystic fibrosis. In recognition of his debating skill and tragically short life, each year, MAD hosts an internal competition known as the Martin Sorensen cup. The Australasian Championships Best Speaker Trophy is also named after him. The trophy is currently held by Victor Finkel of MAD. The Debaters Association of Victoria Schools Competition D Grade Shield is also named after Sorensen.
MAD Executive
The Executive consists of several fixed positions (President, Vice President, Secretary, Male and Female Equity Officer, and Webmaster) and a number of unfixed MWOP (Members Without Portfolio) positions. The current Executive is:
President - Kiran Iyer
Vice-President - Gemma Buckley
Treasurer - Dominic Guinane
Secretary - Luke McGreevy
Member Training Officer - Victor Finkel
Male Equity Officer - David Barda
Female Equity Officer - Melissa Birch
Publications Officer - Tim Whiting
Externals Officer - Ashleigh Feurtado
Public Debate Officer - Meredith Prior
Schools Training Officer - Nicole Franklin
Socials Officer - Rhys Campbell
Monday Meetings Officer - Jacqui Duong
Webmaster - Stephen Moore
Monash Debating Review
The Association produces the world's only academic journal on debating, the Monash Debating Review. It is an annual, scholarly publication which was founded in 2002. Since its commencement, more than 1500 copies of the journal have been distributed worldwide. It is an English-language journal with contributions from a wide range of countries such as Russia and the Philippines.

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