Giving to Mason Debate
Mason Debate has continually focused our mission on making debate possible for students of all skill levels and debate backgrounds. Our team holds members who compete on the national varsity, regional varsity, junior varsity, and novice circuits. The first debater squad at Mason in the 1970s was largely comprised of novice debaters, and we continue the tradition of valuing novice participation to this day with our nationally competitive novice squad. Mason Debate believes that if a squad values competition at all levels, they will succeed at every level. Each year, we do this consistently, qualifying varsity debaters to the NDT and training younger debaters to reach championship level debate success in their divisions. We extend our desire to make debate accessible to our continued efforts to host summer debate programs for local Virginia middle and high school students, as well as students across the country.
Why give to Mason Debate?
Your contributions to our team help us reach our top goals of excellence and access. While Mason Debate consistently ranks in the top five programs in the country, that is only due to the consistent and generous support of donors who provide us the resources necessary to travel across the country, award debaters with scholarships, and recruit top tier assistant coaches.
Areas of need that your donation could support:
- Scholarships for incoming Mason Debaters Mason attempts to recruit high school students from a wide array of socioeconomic backgrounds. Many are highly deserving of merit based scholarships from our team. Our ability to attract out-of-state debaters to our program, rather than a competing debate program, can depend on our ability to make attending Mason as affordable as possible.
- Technology As college debate continues to evolve, expensive technology is playing an integral role. Having a laptop with enough processing capability to research for debate, as well as Microsoft Office is a requirement for debate at this point. We would like to reach the point in funds that we can purchase laptops for debaters who do not own a laptop The video recording of debates is very popular and we would like each team to have their own camcorder.
- Travel Since Mason Debate values student participation at all levels, that presents the administrative requirement to attend more tournaments during a year than most programs. A given season, we travel to between 16-20 regional or national tournaments. As cost of travel rises, the need for donor support becomes increasingly necessary to ensure that we can maintain our travel schedule.
- Assistant Coaches Mason Debate boasts one of the largest debate teams in the country. Because of that, we need support from a rather large and qualified coaching staff. In order to recruit top talent for teachers, the team must be able to offer adequate stipends and coverage of graduate tuition. Your donation can make the difference in the creation of another graduate student coach position.
We thank you for your support!
There are many ways you can give to UM Debate:
- Annual Giving – A fund that is put to use where most needed within a fiscal year.
- Outright Gifts – Gifts of cash, securities or “gifts in kind” make an immediate impact. Gifts in kind include artwork, books and equipment that may be useful to the team.
- Planned Giving – A giving strategy that allows you to make a meaningful charitable contribution while possibly enhancing you and your family’s future financial well-being.
- Bequests – One of the simplest ways to give, you can leave a gift from your estate within your will.
How to Make Your Gift
We have provided information on how you can make your online gift below. In addition, please feel free to call us anytime if you need assistance.
- Online giving – Use our simple and secure online form to make a gift right now using your credit card. In order for the donation to go to the Debate Team, please make sure to search for the "Debate Endowment" under the "Select Other Funds or Multiple Designations" option.
For more information about giving to Mason Debate, please visit https://giving.gmu.edu
Or contact our Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations:
Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations
4400 University Drive, MS 1A3
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
703-993-8850
Online Donations
Already know you want to donate? Visit the Mason Giving page to make an online donation. In order for the donation to go to the Debate Team, please make sure to search for the "Debate Endowment" under the "Select Other Funds or Multiple Designations" option.