Stay tuned for news on our 2012 Keynote speaker!

Catherine (Cate) H. Palczewski, Ph.D Cate is a Professor of Communication Studies and Affiliate Faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Northern Iowa, where she also served as the Director of Debate from 1994-2009. She received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University, where she was an assistant coach for the debate team. She competed in policy debate at Northwestern University and at Robert E. Lee High School in San Antonio, TX. In 1987, she was a member of the US team, and in 1999 she served as coach of the team that participated in the Committee on International Discussion and Debate tour of Japan. She presently serves as editor for the American Forensic Association Journal Argumentation and Advocacy and has authored numerous articles about gender and public advocacy. She co-authored Communicating Gender Diversity, which was shortlisted for the International Gender and Language Book Prize in 2008.

Christi Siver, Ph.D Christi is Executive Director of the WDI and professor of Political Science at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University in St. Joseph, MN. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington, where she coached the parliamentary debate team for nine years. She competed in policy debate at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR and at Sunset High School in Beaverton, OR.

Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre, Ph.D Rae Lynn is Director of Public Relations for the WDI. Rae Lynn competed in policy debate at the University of Vermont. She coached multiple first round teams while getting her Masters at Wake Forest University. She then went on to get her PhD in Communication Studies at the University of Iowa. At Iowa, Rae Lynn coached NDT elimination round competitors and got involved with the Women’s Debate Institute. She is currently an Associate Professor of Communication at Western Washington University with a specialization in rhetoric, postcolonial feminist theory, visual and critical cultural studies.

Carly Wunderlich Carly is Director of Curriculum for the WDI. Carly graduated from Michigan State University in 2010 and is the Assistant Debate Coach at Gonzaga University. Her senior year at MSU, Carly won the National Debate Tournament. During summers, she teaches at the debate camps at Michigan State, the University of Georgia, and, of course, the Women’s Debate Institute.

Devin Majkut Dev is Director of Community Building for WDI and our Alumni coordinator in charge of our mentoring program. She cares about empowering, educating, and supporting the community of women in debate and is committed to women being active, powerful leaders in the activity. Devin debated policy for four years at Sehome High School in Bellingham, WA and was involved with the debate team at Western Washington University. She judges and coaches in the Pacific Northwest region, and offers lectures at the WDI on feminism and alternative forms of debate.

Christine Malumphy, JD Christine debated for Harvard University and Lakeside High School.  She made it to the semi-finals of the National Debate Tournament in 2005.  She has coached for the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California. Christine recently graduated from Berkeley Law School and is currently a clerk for the Honorable Carlos F. Lucero on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kate Shuster, Ph.D Kate is the director of the Middle School Public Debate Program (MSPDP) at Claremont McKenna College, the world’s largest debating program for young students. She is the coach of the U.S. national high school debate team and the author of ten books on debating and critical thinking instruction. In addition to working as a trainer and program development consultant for QatarDebate, she is currently involved in an initiative to assist the development of Arabic language debating across the Middle East. Dr. Shuster holds a Ph.D. in Educational Studies from Claremont Graduate University and actively researches in areas including program evaluation, curricular innovation, and after school program design.

Chandra Carlisle Chandra competed in Lincoln Douglas debate for 3 years at Ridgefield High School, winning numerous regional tournaments.  She went on to compete in Parliamentary Debate at Whitman College where she qualified for the NPTE and travelled nationally, taking first place at such tournaments as the Washington University St. Louis Gateway Invitational and the Western Washington Koma Kulshan Debates.  She taught LD for 4 years at the Whitman National Debate Institute and has presented at several smaller camps.  She is now a criminal defense attorney in Seattle, WA.

Linda M. Collier, JD Linda is the director of debate and head coach at The Barstow School in Kansas City, where she also teaches four levels of academic debate classes.  Linda’s teams regularly qualify for elimination rounds at TOC bid tournaments.  Prior to joining Barstow in 2007, she was the Director of Debate at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where her teams won four national championships during her 20 year tenure.  In her final year at UMKC, the team of Amy Foster and Malcolm Gordon won the Herbert Walker trophy as the runner up at the National Debate Tournament. Linda has also served on the boards of the National  Association of Urban Debate Leagues and the National Debate Coaches Association.  In 2011, UMKC established the Linda M. Collier Women in Debate Scholarship to honor her commitment to women in policy debate and service to the university.

Liz Kim Liz had successful debate careers at Glenbrook South High School and Harvard University and subsequently coached for both schools. She graduated in 2009 from Wellesley College and volunteered with the Boston Urban Debate League during her time in Boston. Debate provided an essential community for Liz where she could explore her identity in a safe space that supported dialogue and diversity and she hopes to open this community to as many individuals as possible. She has taught at the Gonzaga Debate Institute and is excited to return to WDI this summer.

Laura Johnson Laura debated for St. Paul Central High School for four years. Her senior year, Laura and her partner were champions of the Iowa Caucus tournament, finalists atthe Mid-America Cup, and semi-finalists at the Cal Invitational. They were in quarters of the TOC where Laura was 9th individual speaker. Laura has also volunteered as a coach and judge for  the MN UDL throughout high school. She is now attending Macalester college in St. Paul, MN.

Ana Nicolic Ana is a senior at Emory University.  She is a three time qualifier for the National Debate Tournament, and participated in the elimination rounds of the National Debate Tournament her sophomore and junior year.  Ana has advanced to the elimination rounds of major college tournaments including Georgia State, Wake Forest, the Cal Swing, and West Georgia.  Ana debated for Wayzata High School, where she qualified for the Tournament of Champions.  Ana has spent three summers working at the Emory National Debate Institute and she works with students from the Atlanta Urban Debate League coaching and judging debate.

Vanova Robles Vanova debated for four years for Fort Lauderdale High School. She won the Florida Bluekey tournament, got to finals of the Lexington Debate Tournament, and qualified to the Tournament of Champions two years in a row.  Now she debates for the University of West Georgia.  She has been with the Women’s Debate Institute for the last three years and is returning for her second year as a staff member.

Robyn Sellman Robyn was a Lincoln-Douglas debater at Coon Rapids High School in Coon Rapids, Minnesota for four years. Robin broke to outrounds at tournaments such as the Minneapple and the Blake Tournament. In 2010, Robin finished 11th at the NFL National Tournament in LD. She also finished third at the Minnesota State tournament, and first in overall rankings. Robin now attends Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. While she does not debate in college, she is still very involved in the debate community as the coach at Coon Rapids High School. Robin has an internship through the Global Classrooms organization in coordination with the United Nations Association of Minnesota. In this capacity she works with middle school and high schools students in Minneapolis and St. Paul to coach them for Model UN conferences.

Danielle Wiese Leek, Ph.D Danielle is an Associate Professor of Communications at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI.  She is a member of the National Debate Tournament Board of Trustees, and works with high school debate programs in the Grand Rapids, MI area.  Professor Leek began her debate career at Kimball High School in Royal Oak, MI. She debated for four years in high school and along with her partner, Lauren Korn, won the 1991 Michigan State Championship tournament. Since that time, she has coached multiple state and national, high school & college, champions.  Her previous positions include: Director of Debate at Florida State University, Co-director of the summer high school debate institute at Northwestern University, and Curriculum Director for the Chicago Debate Summer Institute for urban debate league students.  Dr. Leek is also proud to be the 2005 recipient of CEDA’s Galentine award recognizing outstanding contributions to women in the activity.

Chyenne Thibodo Chyenne was a Lincoln-Douglas debater at Robbinsdale Cooper High School for four years. While participating in Lincoln-Douglas, she qualified for the National Debate tournament in public forum, competed in the Minnesota state tournament two years in a row and finished in quarter-finals her senior year.  She also broke at the Valley and Blake tournaments, and won the Section IV tournament the same year. She is currently a sophomore studying political science and English literature at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She does not compete in college debate, but does coach Lincoln-Douglas at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Minnesota.

Beth Mendenhall Beth graduated from Kansas State after 5 years of competitive college policy debate. She completed her senior year as the CEDA Debater of the Year and 2011 National Champion. She comes from a team of predominately women debaters with a history of successful female coaches and pursues a variety of argument styles. But Beth is no stranger to other forms of debate – she started her career with 3 years of lay-judge Kansas High School debate, including a state championship in both policy and Lincoln-Douglas debate.