First
Diversity Recruitment and
Retention
in Debate Ideafest
Edited by Gordon R.
Mitchell
University of Pittsburgh
Published by Office of
the Dean
University of Pittsburgh
Ideafest convened at
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
June 10-11, 1997
Daniel
Webster Project (CA)
Laura Heider, Chris
Lundberg, Rob Tucker
Rob
Tucker: I
view the Daniel Webster project as a classic case of re-inventing the
wheel. After I put out a post
describing the Webster project in the listserv, I found out about the Urban
Debate League in Atlanta and was surprised that we were engaged in very similar
projects. The idea of a foundation
is to create a site for the money.
The prototype for the Webster project was started at Fullerton. We started with Santa Ana High School,
a school with a dropout rate of 66%.
We gave a 1/2 hour presentation, and asked students one question on an
application form: Why do you want to be a Webster scholar? We selected 10 scholars out of 41
applicants. Each Thursday, we
picked up the students for an intensive program. The object was to create a "debate lab"-type atmosphere,
and we also fed them. At the end
of the evening, we dropped them of at their doors. The entire program runs from about 3:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. There is also a class at Fullerton
called "Communication in the Community." That helps with fundraising. We had a banquet at the end of the year, and we wanted to
design it as a fundraising banquet; we raised over $9,000.
Laura
Heider: So
far, we've only had one missed session; the kids are amazingly committed. I've been flying out from Utah to help
with the project.
Rob
Tucker: Because
of limited participation, we've tried to build camaraderie; try to convince the
students that it means something fantastic to be a Webster scholar.
Chris
Lundberg: One
of the advantages of the Webster format is the institutional support. You don't have to worry about whether
or not the [high school] teachers are excited. We take the infrastructure of the debate team and class and
apply it to the project. I think
it's in the long-term interest of college teams to do this.
Rob
Tucker: We've
tried to reconceptualize Webster as a novice program for Fullerton, making it
an eight year program for the students, starting in high school.
George
Ziegelmueller: Is
there no coach at [Santa Ana high school]?
Rob
Tucker: Right.
We recruit new students each year.
Our goal is to provide exactly the skills needed to compete at top-level
NDT/CEDA competition by the time they reach college.
Beth
Breger: Do
you provide any support or outreach for the kids who didn't apply? How do you try to build on the momentum
of the ten students who were selected?
Chris
Lundberg: Ultimately,
what we'd like to see is students going back to their high school programs.
Rob
Tucker: Next
year, we plan to include teacher opinion in the selection process. We need to do a better job of getting
to the grass roots. We pride
ourselves on the intensity of the program. The students can call us if there's any problems; all of the
senior staff has pagers. This is a
theme mentoring program; they [the Santa Ana students] have reconceptualized
themselves as college students.
George
Ziegelmueller: Are
the students ready for college-level competition?
Laura
Heider: Not
yet. They've just been
selected. We will start
competition next year.
Les
Lynn: What
will be the number of tournaments, and who will judge and coach?
Laura
Heider: The
Fullerton debaters (Demetrius Lambrinos and myself) will be doing the primary
coaching and traveling.
Rob
Tucker: Laura
Heider and Demetrius Lambrinos will be empowered; most of the hands-on coaching
will be done by undergraduates, but there will be mentoring at all levels.
Tuna
Snider: Was
screening the applicants a tough process?
Rob
Tucker: It
was excruciatingly difficult. One
of the problems was that we picked 10.
That's five teams, not an even number for practice rounds--nice job
Tucker!
Tuna
Snider: What
about fellowships for high school teachers?
Rob
Tucker: Yes.
we are definitely interested in that idea. That's one thing that we will consider.
George
Ziegelmueller: Did
you consider grades in the selection process?
Rob
Tucker: No,
we didn't actively consider it, but there was a definite self-selection in
effect; the average GPA for Webster scholars is 3.7.
Audience question: Is the program not for
some students?
Rob Tucker: We have no problem with
retention. The big problem is with
local coaching.
Laura Heider: We don't want to make
them feel like the only real goal is to win the Tournament of Champions. We want them to get out of debate what
they want.
Linda Collier: If you had to articulate
a goal for your program, what would it be?
Rob Tucker: Change the face of
intercollegiate debate.
Reconfigure what it means to be a college team. We have a different emphasis from Larry
Moss and Betty Maddox, but it's the same goal.