Barkley Forum
Named after former Vice President Alben W. Barkley, the Barkley Forum is the intercollegiate debate and forensics organization at Emory University. Since 1956, the Barkley Forum has hosted an annual invitational tournament for high school students that seeks to honor “commitment to pedagogy, dedication to achievement, and respect for the efforts of others” as the defining characteristics of a quality forensics education."
In order to honor quality performance at the Barkley Forum For High Schools, the organization has awarded Memberships, or Chairs, to deserving high schools since 1963. Woodward was a member of the initial class of schools that received a Membership in the Barkley Forum: it was honored with the organization’s third Chair.
While the Barkley Forum For High Schools hosts competitions in several forensic events, the most prestigious championship remains the Pelham (Policy) Debates. Each year, the winners of the Policy Debate tournament join the Hall of Champions and are listed in the invitation and posted in the auditorium that hosts the final round and awards ceremony.
Woodward Academy joined the prestigious Hall of Champions for the first time in 2002. One year later, Woodward made it back-to-back championships. In total, Woodward has qualified 28 teams to the elimination rounds of the Barkley Forum since 1997.
Double-Octafinalists
Jacob Brown & Eric Zampol, 1997
Avery Dale & Peter Miller, 2000
Elise Borochoff & Bunny Tucker, 2002
Naomi Dale & Andrew Shah, 2003
Seth Gannon & Mona Mehta, 2004
Evan Matthews & Bobby Rosenbleeth, 2007
Rahim Shakoor & Jason Sigalos, 2011
Nasir Nanjee & Karthik Srinivasan, 2012
Alex Duner & Karthik Srinivasan, 2013
Mona Mahadevan & Malachi Robinson, 2017
Elizabeth Li & Ria Thakur, 2022
Octafinalists
Cyclone Covey & Todd Fine, 1997
Jacob Brown & Eric Zampol, 1998
Elise Borochoff & Craig Kunkes, 2003
Naomi Dale & Niji Jain, 2004
Matthew Pesce & Max Plithides, 2010
Alanna Pearson & Arjun Srinivasan, 2018
Quarterfinalists
Evan Matthews & Brittany Nehman, 2008
Brittany Nehman & Matthew Pesce, 2009
Mona Mahadevan & Malachi Robinson, 2018
Semifinalists
Aliya Bhatia & Seth Gannon, 2005
Rahim Shakoor & Jason Sigalos, 2012
Finalists
Avery Dale & Peter Miller, 2001
Aliya Bhatia & Bobo Bose-Kolanu, 2006
Max Abramson & Tripp Haskins, 2017
Mona Mahadevan & Malachi Robinson, 2019*
Champions
Genna Cohen & Avery Dale, 2002
Genna Cohen & Lauren Tanis, 2003
Top Speaker Awards
Avery Dale — Top Speaker, 2002
Matthew Pesce — 2nd Speaker, 2010
Jason Sigalos — 4th Speaker, 2012
Jacob Brown — 6th Speaker, 1997
Eric Zampol — 7th Speaker, 1997
Mona Mahadevan — 8th Speaker, 2018
Genna Cohen — 9th Speaker, 2002
Malachi Robinson — 9th Speaker, 2018
Eric Zampol — 14th Speaker, 1998
Tripp Haskins — 14th Speaker, 2017
Cyclone Covey — 15th Speaker, 1997
Aliya Bhatia — 15th Speaker, 2006
Evan Matthews — 18th Speaker, 2008
Bobby Rosenbleeth — 20th Speaker, 2007
Matthew Pesce — 20th Speaker, 2009