About Us
Our Topic
Middle and High School Debate Institute
A History of Excellence
This year, the national college policy debate community is debating the following topic:
"Resolved: The United States should substantially increase collective bargaining rights for workers in the United States."
A History of Excellence
Middle and High School Debate Institute
A History of Excellence
Founded in 1974, the Mason Debate Team has been a core program fulfilling the university's history of excellence within research and advocacy. We are consistently ranked in the top five programs in the country by the Cross Examination Debate Association, the American Debate Association, and the National Debate Tournament sweepstakes championships. Our team goal is to make debate accessible and possible for debaters of all skill levels, from novice to nationally competing varsity debaters.
Middle and High School Debate Institute
Middle and High School Debate Institute
Middle and High School Debate Institute
The Mason Debate Team also hosts the largest middle school and high school debate camp in the state of Virginia.
We offer classes for 6th through 12th grade students in public forum and policy style debate. Visit "Debate Camp" in our navigation bar for more information.
2025-2026 Season Results
Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Mason's National Varsity squad had an excellent season opener!
Del Gorman & Austin Davis finished 4–4, picking up wins against Wake Forest, Michigan, Gonzaga, and Southern California.
Ashley Wright & Ben Witkov ended with a strong 5–3 record, defeating Western Kentucky, Trinity, Emory, Southern California, and Cornell.
Brenda Reyes & Amira Shananier competed in their first varsity national tournament and secured a win against Southern California!
George Mason University
Northwestern University
We were thrilled to welcome 52 teams from across the country to Fairfax for the first NDT-CEDA tournament of the season. Mason entered 17 teams, and we’re proud to share that 10 advanced to elimination rounds!
Our novices also had a standout showing — out of 10 Mason novice teams, half advanced to elimination rounds, making up half of the entire advancing novice field. They finished as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place champions! In Varsity, we ended with two teams in the Final Four!
University of Kentucky
The Patriots showed up strong at the University of Kentucky’s JW Patterson Debates, one of the most prestigious tournaments of the season!
Ashley Wright & Ben Witkov finished 4-2, advancing to Double-Octafinals with wins over Dartmouth, Emory, Kansas, and Wake Forest.
Our JV squad delivered a phenomenal performance! Andre Esteves & Dakota Atizol finished as the #1 seed, going undefeated in prelims, earning Top 1st (Andre) and Top 2nd (Dakota) Speakers, and ending the tournament as Semifinalists!
Binghamton University
While part of our team competed at Kentucky, the rest of the squad took on the Phyllis Schatz Invitational hosted by Binghamton University — and they made history once again!
Following our opener tournaments, we continued our trend of lock-out championships, this time taking home Co-Champions in Junior Varsity and finalists in Novice!
United States Military Academy
Mason Debate Captures Historic Victory at West Point: Sixty Years in the Making
WEST POINT, N.Y. October 19, 2025 For the first time in its storied history, the George Mason University Debate Team has claimed the prestigious West Point Sword, the traveling championship trophy awarded to the winner of the United States Military Academy’s 60th Annual National Debate Tournament, one of the oldest and most revered competitions in collegiate debate.
ADA Fall Championship
Mason Debate DOMINATES at the 69th Annual Franklin R. Shirley Classic & ADA Fall Championships!
What. A. Weekend.
From novices to varsity, Mason Debate showed up and showed out at Wake Forest University — bringing home titles, speaker awards, and one of the strongest program-wide performances we’ve ever had.
ADA FALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
NOVICE DIVISION CO-CHAMPIONS!
This marks the fourth tournament where Mason Debate locks out an entire division as co-champions!
We sent five novice teams and entered elimination day holding the #1, #2, #3, and #14 seeds of the entire tournament. Pure excellence.
Naval Academy
Liberty University
Liberty University
To Be Debated!
Liberty University
Liberty University
Liberty University
To Be Debated!
Texas Austin
Liberty University
District VII Qualifiers
To Be Debated!
District VII Qualifiers
District VII Qualifiers
District VII Qualifiers
To Be Debated!
JV Novice Nationals
District VII Qualifiers
JV Novice Nationals
To Be Debated!
ADA Nationals
District VII Qualifiers
JV Novice Nationals
To Be Debated!