top of page
Classic
Debate Camp
July 11-19, 2026 New Location: Oberlin College
At Classic Debate Camp you can...
-
work closely with former champions and outstanding coaches
-
connect with other kids who love debate
-
gain the skills you need to succeed at tournaments and in life
-
join a supportive and nurturing community in which you can have a career-changing experience with debate
IMG_1799_edited
IMG_0156_edited
IMG_5322
IMG_1799_edited
1/16
CDC LD Debater Wins First at Three Rivers Tournament!
On February 14, CDC2025 camper Joyce Xiao won the final round with a decisive 5-0 decision at the Three Rivers Tournament hosted by Upper St. Clair High School near Pittsburgh. Other CDC campers who advanced to elimiation rounds included Sahas Chhabra (quarters), Jeffery Zhang (octas), and Evelyn Turner (octas).
CDC Will Send over 50 Debaters to the Ohio State Tournament -
so far!
In Lincoln-Douglas, a total of 27 CDC campers will be competing at the 2026 OSDA Finals. The following campers qualified in LD through bids: Amelia Butler, Sahas Chhabra, Thomas Daly, Adhya Duggal, Reese Dunnington, Camryn Harris, Neil Heckman, Sebastian Istnick, Radha Kontamwar, Benjamin Kurian, Abbie Saxen, Anshul Sharma, Vasakan Thambi-Pillai, Grace Voudris, and Claire Witalec. And here are the campers who qualified in LD through their OSDA district tournament: Shaashwatiyaa Balamurugan, Reagan Carnes, Arush Duggal, Salma Fareed, Adwita Gandhi, Sophie Gehring, Shobhit Goel, Akshay Madala, William McClimon, Annie Noser, Rida Tahir, and Shrinidhi Vaitheeswaran.
In Public Forum debate, 15 debaters will represent Classic Debate Camp at the Ohio state tournament. These PFers earned their qualifications through bids: Zaid Anwar, Anushka Doshi, Sanvi Jha, Ava Flansburg, Alara Ozcan, Ben Lyndall, Jack Shein, Maverick O'Hara, and Ben Sayer. And these PFers earned their qualifications through districts: Aleka Dodla, Hannah Rosenfeld, Charlie Martin, Gabriela Perez, Adelyn Robinson, and Cameron Stansifer.
And 9 CDC Congressional Debaters will be competing at Ohio states. The following earned their qualification through bids: Andrew Hetrick, Matthew Lewis, Grace Swihart, Arjun Tuli, and Calvin Wisniewski. And the following earned their qualifications at districts: Arshiya Moolchandani, James Page, Meera Srini, and Arya Tangirala.
Congratulations to everyone! We look forward to hearing about your successes at the Ohio state tournament in a few weeks!
CDC LD Debaters Go Deep at Pennsbury!
On January 30-February 1, three CDC LDers competed at the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational in Pennsylvania, and all three advanced to the elimination rounds. Joyce Xiao won 2nd place, Evelyn Turner advanced to quarters, and Venya Gulati made it to octas.
On January 17, at the Wooster tournament in Ohio, CDC Lincoln-Douglas debaters closed out 1st and 2nd: Neil Heckman won 1st and Adhya Duggal won 2nd. Claire Witalec made it semis and Radha Kontamwar advanced to quarters. In PF, Hannah Rosenfeld and Aleka Dodla won 1st place, and
Anushka Doshi and Sanvi Jha advanced to quarters. In the final session of Congress, Grace Swihart won 3rd place, and Andrew Hetrick won 4th.
At the Wayne tournament in Ohio, CDC Public Forum debaters won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd: Lucy Orsello and Adie Castle won 1st place, Maverick O'Hara and Ben Sayer won 2nd, and Carolyn Hendricks and Grace O'Conner won 3rd. Calvin Wisniewski won 2nd in Congress, and William McClimon won 4th in LD.
In Missouri, at the Liberty North Classic Invitational, Akiva Trachtenberg won 2nd in the Champion Division of LD.
In Hawaii, at the Neighbor Island Tournament, in the Champion division of LD, Oscar Amos won 1st place and Kenji Wetherell won 2nd, and both qualified for the Hawaii state tournament.
More results and pictures will be posted as we receive them. Campers, please email us your good news and your photos from your tournaments! We love to hear from you!
Classic Debate Camp Provides Its LD Brief on the January-February Topic for Free to All!
Big shout out to Greta Wedel, Olivia Lowry, and Tristan Williams! They were the three instructors in LD Lab 3 last summer, and they collaborated again to produce this resource to help not just our campers but all LDers as you prepare for your January-February tournaments. Also, thanks to Rich Kawolics, LD Curriculum Director, who edited the brief. Access the brief here. Enjoy!
Watch the Final LD Round of the CDC2025 Camp Tournament on the Jan-Feb Topic!
The topic of the final round was Resolved: The possession of nuclear weapons is immoral, which is the reolution that will be debated in January and February 2026. Joyce Xiao of Lewis House was on the AFF, and Amelia Butler of Edith House was on the NEG. Enjoy the round!
CDC PF Instructor Abraham Paik Finishes the Appalachian Trail in 4 months and 2 days!
After graduating from college and attending the 2025 NSDA national tournament, Abraham started the Trail on June 23 and finished it on October 25. He hiked all 2197 miles of the Trail. Abraham said his only regret was missing CDC2025. He is committed to returning to Classic Debate Camp in 2026 for his fifth year as a PF instructor. Two of the students he coached at CDC have become CDC instructors themselves, Bohan Pan and Matthew Walton. See Abraham's bio here.
Classic Debate Camp Is Moving to Oberlin College!
We have decided to make this move to Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, for two main reasons. First, we believe it will make our camp geographically more accessible to the majority of debaters in Ohio, who are concentrated in the OSDA districts that are in the northern part of the state. Second, the move brings us a lot closer to a larger airport, the Cleveland Hopkins Airport, which will make transportation to camp easier for out-of-state students and staff members. While we will certainly miss some things about Miami University, we believe that the Oberlin College campus and facilities will fulfill all the needs of our program and our campers very well. We hope you will join us at Oberlin College in July 2026!
bottom of page