Seawolf debate

The Seawolf Debate Team is Alaska's only college level debate team located in Anchorage at the University of Alaska (formerly Anchorage Community College). This team has earned national and international recognition. Over the years, the Seawolf debate team has competed in various styles of debate as well as multiple speaking events. Currently, the team focuses its efforts entirely on the British Parliamentary style of debate (Worlds Style Debate).

History of the Seawolf debate team
In 1981, the Student Association Senator of Anchorage Community College, Tony Weaver, decided that ACC needed a competitive forensics team. He spoke with his public speaking professor, Cathy Hanson, about his idea and she tracked down interested students from her various public speaking classes. She became the first coach of the Seawolf speech and debate team and traveled the team to their first tournament in the spring of 1982. This tournament was the Governor’s Cup Tournament held in Sacramento, CA. in January 1982. The team took everyone by surprise with a first place finish in the Limited Division Sweepstakes.

In 1983, Doug Parry became the co-director of the seawolf speech and debate team. During this time, the team participated in CEDA debate , Lincoln-Douglas Debate and a variety of speech events including impromptu, informative, and after-dinner speaking . Bradley Atchison became the co-director of forensics in 1990 and worked with the team until 1994. During Brad’s time with the team, the focus switched to the national parliamentary debate association’s style of debate while still maintaining a passion for individual speaking events. Derek Buesher was the assistant director from 1992 until 1994. In 1995, Shawnalee Whitney became the co-director of forensics with Doug Parry continuing as co-director. Also in 1995, Steve Johnson became the assistant director of forensics. In 1996 Shawnalee Whitney and Steve Johnson became co-directors of the debate team and Doug Parry stepped down from his coaching position. The team switched from NPDA to Worlds style debate (British Parliamentary) in 2005. Instead of dividing labor between speeches and debate, the team now competes solely in BP debate. In 2006, Steve Johnson became the director of forensics and Andrew Gardner acted as the assistant director (Jan - Mar 2007) replacing Chanille Lewis who was the assistant director from August 2005 - Jan. 2007. In 2007, Shawn Briscoe was hired as the assistant director of forensics and will continue his role in the upcoming season.

Team goals

# Competition: to bring honor to the University of Alaska-Anchorage through competitive excellence.
# Service: to provide opportunities for others to participate in critical public discourse; and to train others in the skills needed to participate in the political process as engaged contributors.

How the team focuses on service

Promoting Debating: Host the Cabin Fever Debates intramural debating tournament in Spring semester. Host the Alaska State High School Drama, Debate, and Forensics tournament each year. Promote debating in Alaska middle schools.

Training & Mentoring: Hold workshops for debaters and teachers locally, regionally, and internationally. Travel to promote debating through mentoring and exhibition debates.

Public Discourse: Participate in public debates on topics of interest to the campus and Anchorage community.

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