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 29 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

Thad Cross & John Masterson, 2025

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