October 17, 2008

As Professors Left Debate, It Became Gamesmanship

To the Editor:

I was very interested to see your focus on intercollegiate debate ("Colleges Call Debate Contests Out of Order," The Chronicle, October 3). As you rightly point out, intercollegiate debating traditions have existed for a hundred years or more "as a laboratory for the democratic process and an important training ground for future policy makers."

Debate coaching was once a respected professional responsibility for a tenured professor in the academy. In the 1980s,