What We Succeed In

History of Success

Whitman College has a long history of national and regional success in debate including back-to-back national championships in parliamentary debate in 2025 and 2026, as well as five 1st place National Speaker Awards.

Since 2018, Whitman College Debate has earned over 100 awards, including qualifying teams for the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence five years in a row—with national final round appearances in 2023-2024, 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.

Additionally, the program has placed consistently in the top 15 of the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence year-long rankings.

Organizations We Participate In

Whitman College’s Debate participates exclusively in parliamentary debate and belongs to the National Parliamentary Debate Association and the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.

The National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA)

The National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) is one of the two national intercollegiate parliamentary debate organizations in the United States. In tournaments sponsored or sanctioned by the NPDA, teams of two persons debate head-to-head. Tournaments issue a new topic each round, generally on issues such as politics, philosophy, and current affairs, and speeches begin after limited preparation time.

The National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE)

The National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE) operates an invitation-only national championship tournament once per year for parliamentary debate. The NPTE attracts the top teams in the nation that compete in the parliamentary debate format supported by the National Parliamentary Debate Association.

Teams qualify for the NPTE based on their season-long performances at various invitational tournaments around the United States. The ranking system awards points for both preliminary and elimination round performances.