Welcome to the Cornell Debate Association website! This site is the official home of Cornell's parlimentary debate team.

News and Events

Sunday, September 5th- Hopkins Tournament Info

This coming weekend is the Johns Hopkins debate tournament. The Hopkins team will be running a fantastic tournament, so if you've got the time it's a great way to get your feet wet.

Cars will probably leave Ithaca at about 10AM on Friday. Adam Bonnifield (ajb72) is going to handle our registration for this tournament, so email him before Wednesday if you're interested in going. We'll fill you in on what you need to know before the weekend, don't worry.

Tuesday, August 31st- The CDA welcomes new members

Hello Everyone,

I want to thank all the new and returning members who came to the debate team meeting this afternoon! We were very glad to see so many new faces there and we hope to continue to see you throughout the semester. We’re meeting again tomorrow (Wednesday) in Rockefeller 115 at 4:30 to begin training for those who can make it. A few reminders though, for everyone:

-There is absolutely no experience necessary. People who have never debated before and have no prior experience with public speaking are often just as successful as people who have debated in the past. Don’t say “I can’t do it” you can do it, and we’ll teach you!

-If you can’t make it to the meeting tomorrow, *no worries.* Just come back next Tuesday and you can learn then. There is no concept of “falling behind” in debate training; you can go at your own pace when you’re able to make it to meetings.

-If you can only make it to one tournament this semester, we’d still love to have you. Even if you can make it to 0 tournaments, if you want to improve your argumentation and public speaking skills, you are welcome.

-That said, you have the opportunity to travel every and any weekend, and the obligation to travel on no weekends.

-The cost is nearly free. The only things you have to pay for are your lunch on Friday and dinner on Saturday.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me back or any of the other officers whose email addresses are listed below.

Best, Justin Berkowitz
CDA President

Wednesday, March 31st- Elections announcement

Candidate statements are in. We'll be having the official event next Tuesday, where there will be candidate speeches, a question/answer period, deliberations, and voting.

Contact Adam to find out if you're a member in good standing, which you'll need to be in order to vote. We hope to see everyone there.