Debate Alumni Advisory Council

Current Alumni Committee Members:

Mark Gidley, Bill Webster, Bill Hensley, Dana Hensley, Bill Russell, Donn W. Parson, George Lopez, Hajir Ardebili, Joel Goldman, Joshua Zive, Jim Prentice, Mark J. Gidley, Martie Ross, R.J. Melman, Robert C. Rowland, Tom Beisecker, Bill Russell, Zac Grant

A group of debate alumni have formed an Advisory Council to help perpetuate KU's 100-year tradition of excellence in intercollegiate debate. "I'm very excited about the formation of the Advisory Council," said Scott Harris, KU's coach since 1991. "No program has a history like KU's. Our continued success requires that we use proprietary on-line research engines like Lexis-Nexus, recruit outstanding debaters, offer scholarships, travel to major national tournaments, and take advantage of other advances in technology. All of that will require alumni support. The debaters, coaches and I truly appreciate the commitment the Advisory Council has made to support this program." The Advisory Council plans to add the participation of other alums as Alumni Representatives. "We want to reach out to debaters from every era of the program," added Biesecker, a 1962 grad who debated for Wil Linkugel. Anyone with ideas concerning KU Debate and/or alumni activities should feel free to e-mail any Council member (perhaps you recognize a name or two?) or comsalum@mail.ukans.edu or sharris@ku.edu.

First Alumni Committee Meeting Scott Harris, Robin Rowland,Tom Beisecker, Joel Goldman, Bill Russell, Jim Prentice, Bill Hensley, and sitting the once and always "Head Hawk" Donn Parson.

Current Initiatives

One of the challenges for the Council is to identify the hundreds of debaters who have debated for KU since the program began under Dr. E.C. Buehler in 1929.  Anyone having names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses for debate alumni should e-mail the information to comsalum@mail.ukans.edu  and sharris@ku.edu.

In addition, the Coucil is helping further the re-design and development the KU Debate website. "We hope to have a web site devoted to KU Debate alumni," said Mark Gidley. "It will provide a great opportunity for debaters to reconnect with one another."

Look for updates on the Advisory Council in future editions of the bi-annual KU Debate newsletter. To subscribe to the newletter, e-mail your name and address to comsalum@mail.ukans.edu and sharris@ku.edu.

Debate Reunions

The Alumni Committee will be planning on going Alumni reunions and Alumni events.