Policy Debate

2-week Policy Debate Institute: June 2-15, 2024

Commuter: $1,700; Residential: $2,000
Check-in June 2 between 3:00-4:30 p.m.; check out evening of June 14 for commuters or June 15 between 8:30-10:00 a.m. for residential students

This is our signature program, which we have offered since the Emory National Debate Institute was founded in 1966. Most of the students attending the ENDI will attend this session tailored to the experience level of the student.

The ENDI focuses on training students who have not competed in policy debate and those who have 1-2 years of policy debate experience, whether on the middle school or high school level, and wish to transition to their local JV and Open divisions. If you are a student who is very competitive at national tournaments, we would be happy to recommend an institute experience that would be more fitting for your skill level.

Because our institute centers on students just starting out in debate or those who know the fundamentals of policy debate but want to hone them, our focus is on developing basic skills such as flowing (taking notes), how to prepare for a debate tournament, organization and execution of a debate speech, education on the coming year’s debate topic, and understanding the unique rules and arguments of debate. Students will learn research strategies that can be applied to the next year’s debate topic, but they will not be producing an evidence packet.

This division is best suited for students who have the opportunity to debate competitively in policy debate during the regular academic year as students will focus on the upcoming high school topic. We have an excellent teaching staff assembled, which includes Emory debate coaches and other instructors from competitive debate programs across the country. Learn more about high school Policy Debate from the National Speech and Debate Association.

Tentative 2-week Schedule

Registration on Sunday, June 2 from 3:00 – 4:30

Typical day:

8:00 – 9:00	Breakfast
9:00 – 12:00	Lectures or Lab Groups
12:00 – 1:30	Lunch & Free Time
1:30 – 6:00	Lab Groups (break from 3:30 – 4:00)
6:00 – 7:30	Dinner & Free Time
7:30 – 9:00	Lab Groups/Fun Electives
11:00	Lights Out

Similar schedule for Saturday and Sunday, but they are sleep-in days. The camp tournament will be Thursday, June 13 and Friday, June 14. Checkout for commuter students is Friday evening, and for residential students, it is Saturday morning, June 15 between 8:30 – 10:00.