Emory University’s Barkley Forum is the birthplace of the Urban Debate League. The UDL is now a national education reform movement. Since Emory began supporting urban debate in the mid-1980s, the initial small group of students served has grown to over 300 annual participants in Atlanta Public Schools. As part of the commitment, Emory University hosts an Urban Debate League tournament each year, sponsors teacher and student training, coordinates institutes and tournaments with Atlanta Public Schools and other schools in Georgia, provides academic interns and instructional materials, and provides assistance for the establishment of similar programs in cities across the nation.

An outgrowth of the Urban Debate League effort, support for middle school programs began in the mid-nineties. Nearly two hundred middle school students in the metro Atlanta area debate at four tournaments each semester culminating in a state championship in the spring. Emory students volunteer their time to judge the debates. Many of the students now entering into the Urban Debate League received early exposure to the excitement of academic debate while in middle school.

The Atlanta Urban Debate League has served as a national model, and over 12,000 students have participated in debate in city schools where debate did not exist in the past. Part of Melissa Wade’s commitment to Urban Debate has included consulting to establish Urban Debate Leagues in cities from New York to Seattle. A partnership with the Open Society Institute helped to create a strong foundation for future programs. A series of informational and instructional videos, curriculum materials and intensive on-site workshops and training are now available to assist other areas in establishing Urban Debate Leagues. Over 60 colleges and universities now actively recruit students from UDL populations.

A not-for-profit organization, the Urban Debate League is supported in partnership by the Glenn Pelham Memorial Fund, Emory University and the Atlanta Public School System. The UDL is also funded through the generosity of a number of corporate, foundation, and individual sponsors.

In the future, Emory seeks to strengthen the commitment to the value of debate as an accelerated form of education especially for those in underserved areas. With the help of The National Debate Project, a consortium of universities in the Atlanta area, the Barkley Forum seeks to

The Atlanta area is fortunate to have a well-trained forensics community in place at Emory University, Georgia State University and the Atlanta University Center. Together the resources of these institutions can generate the personnel and the forensic knowledge to achieve these goals. The National Debate Project Directors are:

Melissa Maxcy Wade, Director of the Barkley Forum, is one of the finest debate coaches in the nation, having coached twenty separate national debate titles. Her vision of the Urban Debate League has given birth to a national education reform movement. Her consulting has led to the development of fourteen leagues since 1996. She is the author of numerous articles on debate theory, argumentation, and forensics pedagogy. She has won over ten coaching awards for her commitment to forensic excellence. She is a national expert on US Presidential debates and has served as a political debate commentator for many political offices.

Dr. Larry Moss, Assistant Professor and visiting lecturer in Communications at Georgia State University, is one of the principal cofounders of the Atlanta Urban Debate League and a regular consultant to the Open Society Institute’s debate program. Dr. Moss was a debate coach for Therrell High School while coordinating the Atlanta Public School system’s magnet program. In addition to his commitment to forensics education, Dr. Moss has published numerous items on education and justice in the urban setting. He has also served in various capacities on research grants for numerous foundations and universities. He has held positions at Howard University, Morris Brown College, Spellman College, the Morehouse University School of Medicine, and with the Atlanta Public Schools.

Dr. Carol Winkler is a Professor of Communication and Chair of the Department of Communication at Georgia State University. Dr. Winkler was a nationally prominent debater for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an assistant debate coach at Wake Forest University. She is the lead author on the three volume academic debate text, "Lines of Argument" and is an occasional lecturer on debate theory, practice, and argument. She is also the author of numerous articles on Presidential rhetoric and her book on Presidential responses to terrorism will be published in 2003. She has taught at Wake Forest University, the University of Maryland, and American University.

The National Debate Project Web address is www.gsu.edu/~wwwcom/comm.html