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Re: VISION-An NDT perspective

Glen Strickland

At 12:19 PM 4/3/96 -0500, you wrote:
>I would like to first congratulate collegiate debates two national champions
>from Southern Illinois University and Emory University.  Kudos to the
>participants, squads and coaching staffs of these institutions.  While I
>don't know much about SIU in terms of the individual debaters, I just
>want to say that my experiences with Professor Simerly via e-mail have
>been spirited, intelligence and enjoyable.  I'm honored that Louisville
>with have the opportunity to meet some new faces and some old ones, in
>the fall, and we fully intend to utilize that opportunity.
>
>To Melissa, Bill, Dave and Kate, this is a message of honor, respect and
>love.  The symbolic meaning for me, the lone African-American debate coach
>in NDT to a program that has meant so much to diversity in NDT should not
>go unrecognized.  You folks epitomize everything that is right about our
>activity.  It has and will always be an honor to have the opportunity to
>participant with a program that has consistently broken down barriers and
>taken an active role in acting, whether within debates or not, upon their
>beliefs.  As Gordon Mitchell stood in the hall, giving us a context for
>acting on things we "say" are important, as the NDT and CEDA communities
>took a historic leap of faith this weekend, Emory University was
>representing a commitment that we at Louisville strive to achieve,
>"Excellence through Diversity." Please continue your commitment to
>empowering many voices whether its a question of race, gender, class, or
>even, a type of debate.
>
>The joyous celebration Monday evening prompted much introspection for me
>personally, on not only my place in this activity, but in terms of coming
>to grips with the duality of my love/hate relationship with the NDT (and
>soon to be the CEDA/NDT communities).
>
>I love the people in our activity.  I feel "comfortable" in this
>environment.  I sat back and watched a marvelous drama unfold and as it
>went down, my alligences, however temporal, evoked the sincerest emotions.
>I was rooting for everyone.  Could McCaffity make the third time the
>charm?  Would fate and love (as well as a ton of good cards, talented
>debaters and a remarkable coaching staff) carry Iowa to its first national
>championship?  Rayburn's 2NR intro left not a dry eye in the ballroom.
>What about my contempories?  Should I root for the Bears because I'm in
>love with Leeper, Bruscke and the most likable squad in America?  But
>wait, my former assistant and my fantasy baseball colleague are in the
>other semi?  Coach Smith from North Carolina (Winston-Salem, that is) has
>taken me under his wing and taught me "the game."  What about the Green
>Machine?  I got much love for the only African-American to win a speaker
>award, even if his name is "Dre".  But Ziggy's gone thirty years without a
>championship, I just gotta' root for Wayne State don't I?  What about my
>own teams?  When the day was over, all I could think about is how much I
>LOVE these people, ALL of them.  The NBA said it best, "I love this game."
>
>At the same time, when I looked around the room and saw very few faces
>like mine, I was deeply saddened and began to question my assumptions
>about why I participate in this activity.  Were Andre and I "selling out"
>our community to become part of another community?  Does the debate
>community really care about these issues or is all the talk just a good
>front?  Do I push my agenda too often? Why do I feel alone in pushing my
>agenda?  Why did I have such a newfound respect for Gordon and Allison for
>their "actions" and not their "words" out in the hallway?  Does my
>fondness for Clay, Krsna, Billy V., Andre, Clarence and a few others,
>speak to my own personal racism or my awareness?  When I saw Kate Schuster
>being surrounded, hugged and loved, by several of the prominent women in
>our activity (its been a decade since a woman has been victorious at the
>NDT), how could I not help but wonder when I would have the same
>opportunity to hug one of "my" own? Did I want to be a member of the NDT
>final round judging panel for my own self-interest, disregarding whether
>or not I was qualified, in an effort to become another symbolic event
>during the glorious weekend of the "50th"?  Or did I simply want to make
>yet another statement exclaiming that the NDT had another example of
>"excellence through diversity"?  These are some of the many thoughts that
>raced through my head as I watched the evening unfold.
>
>Looking for answers, I found them in the most unlikeliest of places.  A
>discussion at the Survivors party begin.  While the disscusion was diverse
>(men, women, CEDA backgrounds, a variety of races, etc), I was surrounded
>by predominantly white men who could easily have said ALL THE WRONG
>THINGS.  However, these men had compassion, empathy and DAMN good arguments.
>ALL of my questions, fears and thoughts were addressed.  I have a better
>understanding of MY purpose and if you were there, thank you.
>
>Now why do I send this to the CEDA community?  Because I believe that the
>current NDT power structure that some in CEDA perceive to be these evil
>beings out to destroy Golilith, are misinformed.  My story is just one
>example of the level of concern and caring that does exist in the NDT
>community.  I attended the NDT meeting and I believe there is a widespread
>agreement that it is geniune.  Do I believe that the NDT community is
>protecting itself? Sure, the amendments to the amendments speak for
>themselves.  But who has more to lose here?  I still believe that large NDT
>programs have the most to lose if CEDA is true "alternative" for small NDT

>schools.  Yet, it was the Michigan's, Wake Forest's, Northwestern's and
>Dartmouths that made the most eloquent arguments for this when crunch time
>arrived. This could very easily be the first step in destroying the NDT
>community, rendering the existing power brokers irrelevant.  But these
>conspiracy theories in CEDA make absolutely no sense.  If the NDT woos a
>substantial number of programs away from CEDA, I be extremely surprised.
>NDT debates the CEDA topic and all the CEDA schools go back to the NDT?
>If it did happen, then it might suggest that there was a small advantage
>to format types of things like times, etc., although these arguments have
>been beaten down over and over again.  I believe that the worst scenario
>is that everyone stays where they are and it doesn't work.  However, the
>chance of the best scenario, that we find that we have many more
>simlarities than differences, can find acceptable middle-grounds and can
> foster a cooperative environment are worth the risk.
>
>There was remorse by some of the older folk that actions should have and
>could have been taken to have prevented the split from ever occurring.
>After the meeting, discussions were occurring regarding the travel
>schedules and "when were the CEDA tournies."  I would define the
>sentiment as "cautious optimism" and not a "plot to overthrow the
>government."
>
>Finally, I am hoping (in response to Will's statement) that CEDA take the
>lead in teaching us about their success regarding diversity issues and I
>believe that many on our side have similar concerns.  If I did not, then I
>would leave. I think our current actions offer at least one issue (albeit
>a very important one for me), for cooperation and education on both sides,
>whether we merge or not.  NDT has a long way to go, maybe CEDA can help.
>
>Give Peace a chance...
>
>
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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