Welcome to UMass Debate!

We are a competitive intercollegiate debate team. Our goal is to not only succeed competitively, but to build our skills in rhetoric and public speaking and have fun while doing so. We compete in the American Parliamentary Debate Association. The parliamentary format is great because it emphasizes impromptu speaking and requires less lengthy research than other formats.

We pride ourselves in our accessibility. We do not charge our members dues and do not require previous debate experience. We hold ourselves accountable to behaving equitably inside and out of practices.