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Debate, Forensics, & Mock Trial at Marquette University High School

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NFL Nationals Accomplishments

One of the most dominant programs in the history of the tournament, the Webster Club has qualified dozens of students to the annual National Forensic League National Speech and Debate Tournament. Prior to its cancelation in 1994, Marquette won an unprecedented nine Sweepstakes Awards including seven in a row from 1971 through 1977. The school has captured four individual national championships and has been awarded the prestigious Bruno E. Jacob Award on four occasions.

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Chapter History

Marquette University High School received charter number C0530 from the National Forensic League on November 4, 1943. The Webster Club made its national tournament debut in the Spring of 1952 at the University of Boston when three students represented Marquette in Student Congress, Extemp, and Oratory. Beginning in 1968 under the leadership of new Webster Club Moderator James Madison Copeland, Marquette has qualified students to every National Forensic League National Tournament, a steak that currently stands at a remarkable 39 years. The Hilltoppers have remained one of the tournament’s most competitive programs during each of the last four decades spanning numerous coaches, principals, and presidents. In total, the Webster Club has attended 53 NFL National Tournaments in 26 states and the District of Columbia.

National Sweepstakes Award

Beginning in 1953 and ending in 1994, the National Forensic League recognized the team accumulating the greatest number of contest rounds at the national tournament with a Sweepstakes Award. Marquette won a record nine Sweepstakes titles between 1971 and 1986, all during the tenure of James Copeland. The following is a complete list of Sweepstakes Awards earned by the Webster Club (in chronological order):

Marquette’s streak of seven consecutive titles was broken in 1978 when the Hilltoppers were narrowly bested by Pine Crest Preparatory School (Boca Raton, Florida) and again in 1979 when Jefferson High School (San Antonio, TX) took home the crown. Nonetheless, the Webster Club finished in the top five schools in the country every year between 1971 and 1986, a remarkable accomplishment by high school speech and debate’s greatest dynasty.

Pi Kappa Delta Bruno E. Jacob Award

In addition to the National Sweepstakes Award, the National Forensic League annually recognizes the school which has accumulated the greatest number of rounds at the National Tournament with the prestigious Bruno E. Jacob Award. Named for the founder of the National Forensic League, this award honors schools which have demonstrated consistent excellence at the National Tournament. Winners of the award have their points reset while other schools’ points carry-over to the following year.

The Bruno E. Jacob Award has been a staple of the NFL National Tournament since 1936. During that time, Marquette has won the Award four times, more than any other school in history.

The only other program to win the Bruno E. Jacob Award three times is Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas. Only two other schools from Wisconsin have won the award: Eau Claire Memorial (in 1983) and Kenosha (in 1946 and 1958).

In addition to the award itself, the National Forensic League also honors the coach of the Bruno E. Jacob Award recipient if that coach has accumulated at least 50 percent of the points necessary for its procurement. In 1972, 1976, and 1982, James Madison Copeland was honored with the Bruno E. Jacob Commendation.

Senator Karl E. Mundt Congress Trophy

Since 1955, the NFL has awarded the Senator Karl E. Mundt Congress Trophy to the school that has accumulated the greatest number of cumulative rounds of Congress competition at the National Tournament. Named for the South Dakota Senator and co-founder of the National Forensic League, the Mundt Trophy is a version of the Bruno E. Jacob Award that specifically recognizes excellence in Student Congress.

Marquette has won the Senator Karl E. Mundt Congress Trophy only once. Interestingly, this honor was bestowed upon the Webster Club in 1965, three years before the arrival of James Copeland. Only one other school from Wisconsin has won the award: Premontre High School (in 1990).

Individual National Championships

Winning a National Forensic League National Championship is one of the most difficult accomplishments in forensics. Despite the grueling schedule and superb competition, four Webster Club students have earned the right to call themselves national champions (in chronological order):

All four championships came during the Webster Club’s 1970s dynasty.

Individual National Finalists

In addition to Marquette’s four national champions, a remarkable 43 entries have finished in the top fourteen in their respective categories including four runners-up. In chronological order, these national finalists include:

National Qualifiers By Event

Qualifying for the National Forensic League Tournament is quite an accomplishment in its own right. Of the many thousands of students who participate in debate and forensics each season, only a few hundred earn the right to compete for a championship. Marquette has qualified students for the National Tournament in twelve of the thirteen main event categories offered by the NFL; the only exception, Girl’s Extemporaneous Speaking, is for obvious reasons.

Policy Debate

One of the original five events sanctioned by the NFL (the others were Original Oratory, Boy’s Extemporaneous Speaking, Humorous Interpretation, and Dramatic Interpretation), Policy Debate (also known Cross-Examination Debate) has been held at every National Tournament since 1931 with the exception of the post-War tournaments in the late 1940s. In total, Marquette has qualified 50 policy teams to Nationals including three in the 1950s, two in the 1960s, 15 in the 1970s, eleven in the 1980s, four in the 1990s, and 15 in the 2000s.

Unfortunately, the squad has never taken home a national championship despite coming close on several occasions. In 1972, Jeffrey Clark and Mark Foley were defeated in the finals by Whitmer High School (Toledo, Ohio). In 1974, the Webster Club nearly closed out the tournament when it became the first school ever to have two teams in the semifinals. Alas, both pairs lost their debates to rivals from the South, one to the eventual champions from Glenbrook North High School (Northbrook, Illinois) and the other to the runners-up from East High School (Rich Township, Illinois).

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Offered continuously at the National Tournament since its creation in 1980, Lincoln-Douglas Debate offers students a one-on-one, values-based (rather than policy-baseD) alternative to Policy Debate. Despite its status as the most dominant LD program in Wisconsin and despite qualifying 37 debaters to NFL Nationals, the Webster Club has had only one student finish in the top six (William Kolb in 1980) and has had only two students finish in the top fourteen.

Despite the lack of late elimination round appearances, the Webster Club has put together an excellent record in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. In fact, Marquette has qualified at least one LD debater to Nationals in all but three years since 1980.

Public Forum Debate

A new event at NFL Nationals in 2003, Public Forum Debate was originally called Ted Turner Debate after the famous media mogul. Marquette did not begin competing in Public Forum until the 2006-2007 school year but the squad still managed to qualify its top team to Nationals.

Original Oratory

Another one of the NFL’s original events, competition in Original Oratory has been held at every National Tournament. Marquette has qualified an incredible 82 students to Nationals in this event, the second highest total of any event (eclipsed only by extemporaneous speaking). During the 1970s and 1980s, the Webster Club established itself as one of the premiere Oratory programs in the country, claiming two national championships while placing thirteen students in the top ten.

Thanks to the National Forensic League’s archivists, the titles of many of these speeches are still available.

Marquette qualified six orators to nationals in the 1950s, none in the 1960s, 37 in the 1970s, 33 in the 1980s, four in the 1990s, and two so far in the 2000s.

Extemporaneous Speaking

Another of the original NFL events, Extemporaneous Speaking began as a “Boy’s-only” category and remained segregated based on gender until 1985. From 1931-1941 and 1945-1952 (no tournament was held during the intervening war years), only males could compete in Extemporaneous Speaking at the National Tournament. Beginning in 1952, two separate events were offered: Boy’s Extemporaneous Speaking and Girl’s Extemporaneous Speaking. In 1985, the gender restrictions were eliminated and the event was divided into United States Extemporaneous Speaking and Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, with both categories open to members of both genders.

Marquette put together a dominant run in Boy’s Extemporaneous Speaking during the 1970s, capturing the championship in 1972 and 1977 while qualifying 37 students during the decade. All together, the Webster Club qualified 60 students to the National Tournament in Boy’s Extemporaneous Speaking including 15 top-ten finishers.

The Hilltoppers placed at least one extemper in the final round for eight consecutive years between 1971 and 1979. John Mullen appeared in an incredible three consecutive final rounds between 1975 and 1977, finishing sixth, third, and first respectively.

Since the elimination of Boy’s Extemp and the division of the event based on topic, Marquette has qualified 23 students to Nationals in United States Extemp and another 19 in Foreign Extemp. All told, 102 Webster Club students have qualified for the National Tournament in an Extemporaneous Speaking event.

Dramatic Interpretation

The most long-running interpretation event at Nationals, Dramatic Interpretation has been a part of the NFL on-and-off since 1931. After a five-year hiatus during the war years of the 1940s, the event made a brief return from 1946-1951 before returning to full-time status in 1955. Since then, Dramatic Interpretation has been offered at every National Tournament. As with Humorous Interpretation, the Hilltoppers have never advanced a DI student to the final round despite qualifying 33 total students to Nationals in the event. Only two Webster Club students have finished in the top fourteen, both in the 1970s.

Of all its DI qualifiers, more than half attended Nationals in the 1970s; one qualified in the 1950s, none in the 1960s, 18 in the 1970s, nine in the 1980s, three in the 1990s, and two so far in the 2000s.

Humorous Interpretation

An original event offered at the National Tournament between 1931 and 1941, Humorous Interpretation made an aborted return after the war years and was offered at only four Nationals until 1977 (1947-1949, 1951). Since 1977, a Humorous Interpretation competition has been held at each national tournament. In that time, the Webster Club has qualified 36 students to NFL Nationals in the event including four in the 1970s, 19 in the 1980s, ten in the 1990s, and three in the 2000s. No Hilltopper has ever advanced to the final round in Humorous Interpretation but on four occasions one has finished in the top ten.

Duo Interpretation

The newest interpretation event sanctioned by the NFL, Duo Interpretation was first offered at the 1996 Nationals in North Carolina. Since then, the Webster Club has qualified eight duos to the National Tournament including three that have advanced to round ten: A.J. Hofland and Chris Klundt in 2001, Thomas Kilgore and Adam Klann in 2001, and Peter Andersen and Micah Russell in 2007.

Student Congress

Divided between the House and Senate, competition in Student Congress has been held since 1938 (with hiatuses in 1941 and 1945-1951). During that time, Marquette has qualified 29 students to the National Student Congress including five in the 1950s, four in the 1960s, one in the 1970s, four in the 1980s, twelve in the 1990s, and three so far in the 2000s. No Webster Club student has ever finished in the top fourteen in Student Congress at Nationals.

Comprehensive List of National Qualifiers

The following is a complete list of Webster Club students who have qualified for the National Forensic League National Tournament (in reverse chronological order). In total, Marquette has qualified 380 entries to the National Tournament including 20 in the 1950s, eight in the 1960s, 112 in the 1970s, 119 in the 1980s, 71 in the 1990s, and 50 in the 2000s. Italicized entries qualified for but did not attend the tournament.

2008-2009 (Birmingham, AL)

2007-2008 (Las Vegas/Henderson, NV)

2006-2007 (Wichita/Derby, KS)

2005-2006 (Grapevine/Colleyville, TX)

2004-2005 (Philadelphia, PA)

2003-2004 (Salt Lake City, UT)

2002-2003 (Atlanta, GA)

2001-2002 (Charlotte, NC)

2000-2001 (Norman, OK)

1999-2000 (Portland, OR)

1998-1999 (Phoenix, AZ)

1997-1998 (St. Louis, MO)

1996-1997 (Bloomington, MN)

1995-1996 (Fayetteville, NC)

1994-1995 (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

1993-1994 (Kansas City, MO)

1992-1993 (Indianapolis, IN)

1991-1992 (Fargo, ND)

1990-1991 (Northbrook/Glenview, IL)

1989-1990 (San Jose, CA)

1988-1989 (Golden, CO)

1987-1988 (Nashville, TN)

1986-1987 (Cincinnati, OH)

1985-1986 (Tulsa, OK)

1984-1985 (Eau Claire, WI)

1983-1984 (San Antonio, TX)

1982-1983 (Park Hill, MO)

1981-1982 (San Francisco, CA)

1980-1981 (Salt Lake City, UT)

1979-1980 (Huntsville, AL)

1978-1979 (Cincinnati, OH)

1977-1978 (Evanston, IL)

1976-1977 (Seattle, WA)

1975-1976 (Colorado Springs, CO)

1974-1975 (Indianapolis, IN)

1973-1974 (Dallas, TX)

1972-1973 (Pittsburgh, PA)

1971-1972 (Winston-Salem, NC)

1970-1971 (Stanford, CA)

1969-1970 (Shawnee Mission, KS)

1968-1969 (Washington, DC)

1967-1968 (St. Paul, MN)

1966-1967 (Nashville, TN)

1965-1966 (Albuquerque, NM)

1964-1965 (Omaha, NE)

1963-1964 (Akron, OH)

1962-1963 (Houston, TX)

1961-1962 (Missoula, MT)

1960-1961 (Pittsburgh, PA)

1959-1960 (San Diego, CA)

1958-1959 (Coral Gables, FL)

1957-1958 (Sioux Falls, SD)

1956-1957 (Lexington, KY)

1954-1955 (San Jose, CA)

1953-1954 (Greensburg, PA)

1952-1953 (Denver, CO)

1951-1952 (Boston, MA)

1950-1951 (Los Angeles, CA)

1949-1950 (Kenosha, WI)

1948-1949 (Longmont, CO)

1947-1948 (Canton, OH)

1946-1947 (Jennings, MO)

1945-1946 (Evanston, IL)

The National Association of Secondary School Principals assumed control of national contests and restricted entry to one student from a state in each event. The national contests for the five speech events were held at Northwestern University following four regional contests.

—National Forensic League

1944-1945 (Evanston, IL)*

A schedule of points for community service speeches was written into the constitution. The national student congress was suspended in compliance with a ban on conventions. A national contest in extemporaneous speaking was held instead at Northwestern University, preceded by regional contests at Denver, Iowa City, Nashville, and Washington, PA

—National Forensic League

(Thanks to the National Forensic League for providing many of the documents used in compiling this record.)

Last Updated on May 18th, 2009

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