Our Vision

Loyola's Speech & Debate program aims to continue advancing its reputation as a national leader in the world of speech and debate by broadening the range of offered events in which students compete—increasing our team’s diversity through strategic recruitment practices, and enhancing students’ oral communication skills and ability to construct evidence-based arguments grounded in research. The Loyola Speech & Debate program will prepare students to analyze relevant, comprehensive issues through a social justice lens and to emerge as effective advocates for positive change in an evolving and complex global society.

OUR VALUES

• Equity: Participating in speech and debate leads to highly valuable educational and life skills and should be an opportunity available to all students. Our program is dedicated to providing the necessary support and resources for all participants, regardless of need.

• Openness: A strong and inclusive community benefits all members of our team. We strive to provide access to our program by respecting students’ interests in other extracurricular activities and by offering flexibility in participation whenever possible.

• Diversity: Educational ideas and discussions are best served by a variety of voices from multiple diverse backgrounds. Racial, gender or sexual orientation, ideological, social, and economic diversity in participants enriches and strengthens the activity. The viewpoints of students, coaches, and judges are all welcomed and respected.

• Feedback: Our community grows from open dialogue, and we encourage the members of our team to seek opportunities for improvement in feedback received from coaches and judges. We uphold high standards of civility, reflection, communication, and critical thinking.

• Engagement: Speech and debate events require thorough research of evidence and dedication to skill development. Learning, reflecting, and revising are all integral components of honing our craft. Coaches foster student engagement by providing demanding curricula and lessons that require high levels of thinking.

• Citizenship: Participation in our program leads to learning about significant political and social topics. Students will become critical consumers of news and other media sources. We challenge students to become engaged citizens and leaders.

OUR GOALS

• Enhancing the commitment of faculty, coaching staff, and students focused on diversity, social justice, and citizenship embracing democratic ideals

• Offering weekly dynamic lessons and comprehensive curricula through both traditional, face-to-face as well as distance learning formats throughout the academic year

• Providing flexible access to our activity, honoring and respecting student interests in other extracurricular activities

• Broadening the scope of offered competitive events

• Implementing strategic recruitment practices to increase the diversity of team membership

• Increasing our presence at local WBFL tournaments and the number of students who participate in the end-of-year state qualifying and national qualifying tournaments

• Increasing student attendance to TOC bid awarding tournaments

GET SOCIAL WITH US

Follow Loyola S&D on Instagram! @loyolaspeechdebate