Wake Debate

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The official page of the championship Wake Forest University Debate Team.

Wake Debate competes in NDT and CEDA policy debate at the intercollegiate level.

09/29/2026

💻 💛 Bringing the energy to Lexington! Wake Debate had a phenomenal showing at the 56th Annual JW Patterson Debates hosted by the University of Kentucky. A massive thank you to University of Kentucky Debate Team / KentuckyDebate for hosting such a wonderful and competitive tournament! 📂

Here are the highlights from the weekend:
💾 Leverett & Patel (Wake LP) claimed an Octafinalist trophy after an outstanding 5-1 run in prelims! (Leverett: 21st speaker) 💛
🖥️ Prabhakar & McDonald (Wake MP) secured a Double-Octafinalist trophy after going 4-2 in prelims! ⚡
📂 Gong & Peebles (Wake GP) finished as JV Octafinalists! (Gong: 5th speaker, Peebles: 15th speaker) 💫
⌨️ Brown & Sencion (Wake BS) put up a strong performance, going 4-2 in prelims! 🌟

Shoutout to all of our other teams—Sampat & Nounawon-Castro, Aderibigbe & Mbye, Laforest & Williams, Nguyen & Timsah, Kinghorn & Porter (JV), and Hubbard & Schaub (Novice)—for battling hard through every single round. 📲

The momentum keeps building! Go Deacs! 💛 💻

09/17/2026

Opening the season with some noise! 📣🌟

Wake Debate just wrapped up the Northwestern University Season Opener (NUSO), and we couldn’t be prouder of the squad’s energy and results. The Deacs arrived ready to work!

Here are some highlights from the weekend:
🎉 Brown & Sencion (Wake BS) finished as Varsity Quarterfinalists! (Rita: 7th speaker, Jordan: 32nd speaker) 🏆
⭐ Gong & Peebles (Wake GP) were JV Quarterfinalists! (Yulong: 10th speaker, Courtneigh: 15th speaker) (and they befriended a bunny! 🐰)
👏 Leverett & Patel (Wake LP) secured a spot as Double-Octafinalists! (Leverett: 19th speaker)
🔥 Aderbigbe & Mbye (Wake AM) put up a strong fight, going 5-3!
🥳 Shout out to all our other competing teams (Hale & Namikas, Dingley & McDonald, Laforest & Williams, Prabhakar & Timsah, and Nounawon-Castro & Sampat) who racked up wins and left it all in the rounds.
🤍 A special thank you to Northwestern Debate Society for hosting such a wonderful tournament.

This is just the start. We can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds. Go Deacs! 🎩📀💛

07/19/2026

Today, we remember and celebrate legendary Wake Debate Coach Ross K. Smith who passed away on July 19, 2009. Everyone has a different Ross story and we try to make a point of sharing as many as we can with our summer workshop students. How many of you remember those legendary breakfasts he cooked on Sunday mornings like this to watch the final round of the British Open? That being said, please take a moment today to reach out to Dr. Louden and share your favorite stories about Wake Debate and Ross in particular. Dr. Louden is working diligently on the 3rd volume of the history of Wake Debate and the stories from you will make the book a fun read. Go Deacs!

05/01/2026

Wake Debate on Film 📸

Wake Debate had our year with our end of year celebration. We ate delicious food, sang our hearts out, and celebrated some awesome Seniors and Grad students.

Thank you to Cole, Preston, Ahmad, Eli, Dimarvin, and Logan for all of your hard work. We will miss you dearly and look forward to seeing all of the amazing things you all will do!

Go Deacs!! 🎩

04/29/2026

Wake Forest Debate is so proud to have collaborated with the Academic Community Engagement (ACE) program to bring Wake Forest students to the Richland Facility in Ohio as a part of the National Prison Debate League. Students Devlin Brindle, Cailin Schaub, Eden Block, Brandon Katz, and Declan McKee traveled to the facility for an incredible in-person debate over whether or not to loosen restrictions on habeas corpus appeals. The trip was supported by an ACE grant.

04/24/2026

In case you didn’t have a phone reminder already set… Register today for the RKS Debate Workshop at rksatwfu.org

04/18/2026

Congratulations to Liz Elliott and Hana Shakarov for being first and second speakers at the 2026 ACC Debate Championship! They finished in 3rd place with a 3-1 record. Thank you to our hosts at SMU for a fantastic tournament. Go Deacs!

04/17/2026

National Retired Communities Debate League👩‍⚖️💍
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RSVP by TOMORROW April 18th by calling 336.933.9726 📣

04/16/2026

RSVP by April 18th by calling (336) 933-9726
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Join us as residents from Abbotswood at Irving
Park return to the stage for their second debate
against Salemtowne as part of the National Retired
Communities Debate League, facilitated by Wake
Forest University. Building on last year’s inaugural
event, participants will once again engage in
thoughtful, well-researched dialogue—this time
exploring the practicality of marriage in today’s
world. This partnership highlights intellectual
curiosity, lifelong learning, and the confidence to
share one’s voice at any stage of life. Guests will
enjoy hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, with tented
seating for comfort in any weather. We invite you
to join us and cheer on the Abbotswood team.

04/11/2026

RKS 2026 Session Schedule 🎩

Policy Sessions ⚖️
•Sunday, June 28th - Saturday, July 25th

Public Forum Sessions🎙️
•Sunday, July 5th - Saturday, July 18th

Address

401 Carswell Hall
Winston-Salem, NC
27109

Website

https://debate.wfu.edu/

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