Speech & Debate has a great track record of producing high quality students and professionals.  From congressmen to Supreme Court justices to famous actors to high powered legal teams -- the notable alumni that speech & debate produces is incredible.  Check out profiles of Marist debate alumni here.

"Debate was the most important activity that I did at Marist. In debate, I did research on a variety of current social, political, and economic issues and gained both critical thinking and speaking skills. Debate truly changed the way I thought which led to success in classes, standardized testing, and even got me a full-ride to Georgia Tech. It isn't just something to boost your resume, though. The knowledge, friendships, and skills gained made it an invaluable experience that I would recommend to anyone.”

Anthony Ovadje '21, Georgia Tech '25

Debate Improves Academic Success

Numerous studies have been done to connect participation in debate to academic success.  It is no surprise that students being exposed to learning multiple perspectives of academic literature through the lens of a debate has spillover effects in all of our their classes. 



"The Marist Speech & Debate program taught me to have confidence in myself and in my opinions. I saw it help me with writing my papers in English and even my essays to get into college.  The experience I gained was even noticed in college. It was instrumental in helping me get a research internship as only a freshman in college, being chosen over upperclassmen."

Katie Hopkins '16, George Washington '20

Debate Improves College Acceptances

Not only does debate open the door to many college acceptances, it builds confidence to open opportunities for our students to receive Presidential-level scholarships to some of the country's top universities.   Some of our top scholarship recipients are listed below:

Blazer Elite Scholar at University Alabama-Birmingham (2021)
Gabelli Presidential Scholar at Boston College (2015, 2020)
Presidential Scholar at George Washington University (2011, 2016)
Stamps Presidential Scholar at Georgia Tech (2021)
Foundation Fellowship at University of Georgia (2018)
Killian Family Scholarship at University of Michigan (2012, 2017)
Presidential Scholar at University of Michigan (2017)
Morrill  Scholarship at Ohio State University (2021) 
Trustee Diversity Scholar at Rice University (2016)

Debate is done by the best in the country

Our program's involvement in national circuit style of debate opens the door to the opportunity of debating students from all over the country.   Not only does this mean our students build friendships with students from all over the country, but it allows them to academically compete against some of the smartest students in the United States.  In the growing competition of college admissions, this element of debate is unparalleled with other activities at the school. 

According to Niche.com National Private School Rankings and US News & World Report Public School National Rankings, our debaters have debated students from twenty-six different schools that are on the top 50 of each respective list.  For comparison, Marist School ranks 537th on the Niche.com national private school rankings. (Source: Niche for private schools and US News & World Report for public schools).

Out of all the schools that compete in speech & debate, Marist is ranked first overall in the state according to the National Speech & Debate Association and is has been one of the top 100 programs in the nation for two years in the country.

In 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 Marist students competed against the students from the following schools: