The FSU Debate Team
The Florida legislature commissions the State Seminary West of the Suwannee River in 1851.
Classes begin in 1857.
Florida State Seminary West of the Suwannee
1851 - 1900
1897-1898 Platonic Debating Society Formed
1898-1899 FSU wins First Intercollegiate Debate in State of Florida
1899-1900 Group splits off to form additional Anaxagorean Literary Society
Main Building
1897
1897 - 1905
1st Intercollegiate Debate in Florida
May 5th, 1899
1899 - 1905
William McKinley
1897 - 1901
The Florida State Seminary West of the Suwannee River changes its name to the Florida State College in 1901.
Florida State College
1901 -1905
The Buckman Act establishes the Tallahassee campus as the Florida State Female College in 1905.
Florida Female College
1905 - 1908
1905 - 1918
1905-1906 Minerva Club & the Thalian Literary Society Formed
1906-1907
1907-1908
1908-1909
1909-1910
1905 - 1918
1908 Ford Launches the Model T
Florida Female College becomes Florida State College for Women in 1909.
WORLD WAR I
July 28, 1914 – Nov 11, 1918
1915 - 1918
Pearl Caldwell, Anvil Pres & Suffragette
William Howard Taft
1909 - 1913
Woodrow Wilson
1913 - 1921
19th Amendment Women's Suffrage Ratified Aug 18th, 1920
Warren G. Harding
1921 - 1923
Calvin Cooledge
1923 - 1929
1920-1921
1921-1922
1922-1923
1923-1924
1924-1925
1925-1926 Team Hosts Exhibition Debate (UF v. Mercer April 11th)
1926-1927 Team Hosts 1st International Intercollegiate Debate in State of Florida (UF v. Oxford Oct. 29th)
1927-1928 Dept of Spoken English offers debate class First Chapel Debate
1928-1929 Alethea Smith (1928-1933) First Florida State Debate Coach
Dept of Spoken English offers 310a Argumentation & Debate and 420 Debate
Martha Burns Jones
1929 Debating Club President
1929-1930 April 9th Chapel Debate; October 6th: First Talking Movie Released; October 29th: Stock Market Crashes
Alethea Smith
1928 - 1933
GREAT DEPRESSION 1929 – 1939
Elizabeth Thompson
1935 - 1937
Sadie Young
1937 - 1944
Burnette & Winn Defeat Emory
1930-1931 May 16th Chapel Debate/Classroom Debates; (UF vs. Washington & Lee Exhibition Debate)
1931-1932 Classroom Debates; (UF vs. Penn State Exhibition Debate)
1932-1933 Classroom Debates; First Convocation Debate April 22nd; (UF vs. Oklahoma Exhibition)
1933-1934 FSCW Wilson & Beatey v. UGA
1934-1935
1935-1936 N.S.F.A. Forms Independent Organization; Elizabeth Thompson, Speech Department Sponsor
1936-1937 January: First N.S.F.A. Public Debate; (UF vs. U of Dayton Exhibition)
1937-1938 Sadie Young, Assistant Professor of Economics & Commerce becomes Sponsor; Burnette & Winn Defeat Emory
1938-1939 Team Requests Qualified Debate Coach; Margaret Wyly, Speech Department & Louise Richardson, Library Science join as sponsors
Herbert Hoover
1929 - 1933
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
1933-1945
Margaret Wyly
1938 - 1944
Dr. Louise Richardson
1938 - 1940
Signing of Strawberry Leaf Charter
Delta Epsilon Alpha "Strawberry Leaf Society"
1940 - 1950
1939-40 Delta Epsilon Alpha “Strawberry Leaf” Debate Honorary Society Forms April 14th; (UF vs. Washington & Jefferson College Exhibition)
Dr. Robert Cotterill
1940 - 1943
1940-1941 Dr. Robert Cotterill replaces Richardson as 3rd Sponsor Delta Epsilon Alpha “Strawberry Leaf” Society; Team Attends First Intercollegiate Tournament & Wins First Tournament Trophy
1941-1942 US Enters WWI December 7th after Bombing of Pearl Harbor; March: First Tournament Hosted; December: Plan for Tri-State Tournament in Spring 1942
1942-1943 Delta Epsilon Alpha "Strawberry Leaf” debates Dale Mabry Field Soldiers
1943-1944
1944-1945
1945-1946 WWII ends August 14th with Armistice V-J Day; Japan surrenders September 2nd
1946-1947
WORLD WAR II September 1, 1939 – September 2, 1945
Harry S. Truman
1945 - 1953
In 1947, the Florida Legislature returns the campus to co-educational status & names it the Florida State University.
Florida State Amend & Skogstad
First Women to Win Top Honors @ All-Southern. Tournament February 1950
1947-1948 Speech Instructor Edmund Newman Sponsors Debate
1948-1949 Debate Club Meets 5 Evenings/Week; Plan Travel to New Club’s First Tournament in Tampa
1949-1950 Dr. Gregg Phifer Hired as Director; Albritton '50 & Curtis '50 debate Oxford; Freshman Team Amend '53 & Skogstad '53 wins Best Affirmative Team, first women to ever win top honors @ All-Southern Tournament
Dr. Gregg Phifer
1949 - 1972
Nov 1, 1955 Covert U.S. Involvement in Vietnam Begins
Dwight D. Eisenhower
1953 - 1961
John F. Kennedy
1961 - 1963
Lyndon B. Johnson
1963 - 1969
Dr. Marilyn Young
1972 - 1985
Coach Dean Hewes
1971 - 1972
Jan 27, 1973 End Vietnam Draft; Aug 15 Fall of Saigon
Gerald Ford
1974 - 1977
Richard Nixon
1969 - 1974
Jimmy Carter
1977 - 1981
de la O & Opler
Curtis Austin
1985 - 1989
Invention of World Wide Web March 1989
Crenshaw & de la O and Rouco & Marko
Second & Third Place 1986 CEDA Nationals
1980-1981
1981-1982 FSU Hosts National Debate Tournament, April 2-5
1982-1983 Dr. Marilyn Young becomes Department Chair
1983-1984
1984-1985 Opler & de la O win Utah
1985-1986 Curtis Austin hired as Director; Florida State nearly closes out First CEDA National Tournament ~de la O & Crenshaw win Second & Marko & Rouco win Third Place
1986-1987 Jim Brey hired as Debate Coach; Crenshaw & Rouco place Third, Crenshaw Second Speaker @ CEDA National Tournament
1987-1988
1988-1989
1989-1990 Dr. Jim Brey becomes Director
Ronald Reagn
1981 - 1989
Dr. Jim Brey
1986 - 2002
Florida State Connell & Stakelum
Second Place CEDA National Tournament
Google Founded
September 1998
George H. W. Bush
1989 - 1993
Bill Clinton
1993 - 2001
Dr. Danielle Wiese
2004 - 2006
Dr. Matt Grindy
2004 - 2008
George W. Bush
2001 - 2009
Apple Unveils 1st iPhone
January 2007
CoachVince Binder
2010 - 2012
Coach Kristen Porter
2016 - 2017
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
2014 ALUMNI REUNION; DR. MARILYN J. YOUNG establishes ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN for FLORIDA STATE DEBATE
2014-2015
2015-2016
2016-2017 Schulster & Hartwig advance to JV Octos @ ADA Nationals
2017-2018
2018-2019
2019 ALUMNI REUNION
Barack Obama
2009 - 2017
November 2017 Florida State Debate Launches Website
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Established in 2014, the Marilyn J. Young Debate Endowment will generate enough interest income to ensure that the opportunity to debate is available for students into perpetuity. Learn more about the goals and details of the Endowment. The Intercollegiate Debate program has been a part of the Florida State University experience for over 120 years and its rich history of competitive success and academic achievement continues to this day. Given the funding realities of the 21st century, to secure the future of Florida State Debate, it is crucial to move beyond inconsistent short-term annual funding and provide long-term financial backing for the program.
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The Ames Women in Debate History Project houses our collection of materials and our online publication concerning the History of Women in Debate.
