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WNDI Policy Scholars Program
  
A premier experience at an unbelievably good
price. 12 talented policy debaters will be chosen to participate in the
WNDI Policy Scholars Program. The Three Week Program with ALL meals
and Room and Full Camp Electronic Evidence File and Instruction
is just $1650.
Applications WERE due by Monday, May 11, 2009.
WNDI POLICY SCHOLARS STAFF
Ben, Matt and Eric are the 2009 WNDI Scholars Lab Leaders
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 Ben Meiches
Ben was an NDT Octafinalist,
CEDA Nats Quarterfinalist, NFL
Nationals Policy Champion, advanced to elims at
virtually every national circuit college tournament, and was one of the
nation’s best kritik debaters. He serves as the
Kritikal WNDI Policy Scholars Staff Leader. Ben
broke at every single tournament he attended for 21 months in a row.
Currently the Policy Debate Coach at the University of Puget
Sound, he loves Agamben,
Zizek, Lacan and a
wide variety of kritikal arguments.
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 Matt Schissler
Matt received an
NDT First Round Bid, was a two-time CEDA Nats
Quarterfinalist, advanced to the Octas at the
NDT, was Washington
state champion, and was one of the nation’s best affirmative researchers
and debaters. He serves as the Policy WNDI Policy Scholars Staff Leader.
Matt broke at every single tournament he attended for 25 months in a row.
He loves very specific affirmatives with “tricks” to answer generics. He
also likes space, heg, and trade arguments.
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 Eric Chalfant is the coach of an NDT
First Round Team and 5 CEDA Elim participants.
He has been in elimination rounds at CEDA Nationals, Gonzaga, Pepperdine,
Fullerton, CEDA Nationals, and Heart of America. He was top speaker at
the Washington
state tournament. He competed for 8 years and this will be his fourth
WNDI. He received honors in his religion major. He likes disadvantages,
theory, topicality, and counterplans. Eric
works in the policy labs and assists in coaching Whitman’s policy debate
teams.
chalfaer@whitman.edu
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You will also
work with many of the rest of our staff in lectures, practice debates, and
drills.
- TONS OF
EVIDENCE
At WNDI,
you do not have to worry about bad evidence cut by untrained high
school debaters. Our college staff prepare
thousands of pages of evidence files with disadvantages, kritiks, counterplans,
and topicality arguments. Click here for
a list of the evidence from last year’s WNDI. In addition to the
staff created files, in the WNDI Policy Scholars lab, you will work
with Ben and Matt to prepare carefully crafted positions by learning
and engaging in high level research.
- SMALL LABS
WNDI is
famous for individual attention and you will get it. You and the 11
other students will work directly with the Scholars lab leaders. You
will get your questions answered; you will get the drills you need to
improve.
- ADVANCED
THEORY LECTURES
We will offer an advanced series of lectures
focused on strategy and allowing you to get deep on Policy or Kritikal style arguments (or get a balance of
both). Policy side, you can choose lectures on arguing the Politics
Disadvantage, writing your PIC to win, how to leverage soft left
arguments to beat the crazy kritiks, arguing
the framework with evidence. Kritik wise,
you can choose lectures on Agamben,
Foucault, Derrida, Butler, Campbell, arguing the framework right back
at “them,” running your alt so you beat the perm, creating your own
space in the policy arena. Both styles of debate will benefit from
discussions on the 1AR, answering PICs,
leveraging textual versus functional competition, dispositionality/conditionality,
Spec arguments, and impact comparison.
- DEBATES AND
DRILLS WITH REDOS
You will engage in the most challenging debates you have had because
you will debate other outstanding high school debaters AND you will
debate our staff—college national circuit elim
participants. You will do drills. We are going to work your debating
until you do it right—that includes speed, line-by-line,
persuasiveness, rebuttals, and taking strategic control. Our staff
will give feedback on your strategies, your delivery, your line-by-line, all of the key elements needed
to win. You’ll also participate in a 2nd week Tournament
and a Championship 3rd week Tournament.
- THREE WEEKS
OF INTENSIVE STUDY
We go from 9:45am to 10:30pm each day. You will engage in at
least 18 debates in addition to many drills. Whitman has a reputation
as one of the hardest working squads in the nation and we are going to
show you why we are the first team in history to have had all 6 teams
advance to elimination rounds at CEDA Nationals. You will be coached
in the same way that we coach on our program. If you are up to the
challenge, then we invite you to apply. Most days, you will have a
special Scholars lecture series in the morning covering advanced
debate theory and practice (such as arguing the Politics disadvantage
effectively, using evidence and the right arguments to win framework
debates, and intrinsicness and textual
versus functional competition). In the afternoon and evening, you will
work in your lab with research, drills, and one-on-one discussions
with the Scholar Lab leaders. Details on the schedule, designed by the
Scholar Lab leaders, as well as the Scholars lectures will be posted
when we get closer to the beginning of the institute.
- HOW TO
APPLY
Complete the online registration forms including for the WNDI Scholars
Application. We urge you to do so as soon as possible. STUDENTS MUST
HAVE COMPETED IN AT LEAST 10 TOURNAMENTS IN SENIOR/CHAMP/OPEN DIVISION
OF POLICY DEBATE. Students chosen will be based on a review by Jim
Hanson and the WNDI Scholar Lab Leaders. Students chosen will
demonstrate competitiveness in senior/championship division and a strong
work ethic. Students will be told if they are admitted, on a waiting
list, or encouraged to apply for our regular but usually advanced
policy program. By May 18, we will have established all of the WNDI
Scholars. If you aren’t chosen as a WNDI Policy Scholar, you may still
participate in the WNDI Policy Labs, attend the advanced lectures, and
receive all the benefits of regular WNDI enrollment.
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