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STRIVE Prep Speech Showdown

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Equity Statement

Equity Statement: 

Both of the STRIVE Prep programs are committed to further developing equity, diversity, and inclusion in this activity. To that end, we have tried to remove some of the economic barriers that prevent teams from competing at tournaments. Below are recent steps we have taken to increase access and affordability: 

  1. The 2020 STRIVE Prep Speech Showdown will not be charging any drop fees. 

  2. We have lowered our entry fees, making us one of the most affordable tournaments in the state and the country to offer 5 preliminary rounds plus multiple outrounds. 

  3. Any school with a Free or Reduced Lunch rate of 60% or more is entitled to a discount on their entry fees. Please email us directly to receive the discount. 

In addition to working towards affordability, we want to create a competitive environment that welcomes all narratives and combats sexist, classist, and racist microaggressions that have resulted in varying student experiences in this activity. Below are recent steps we have taken to address inclusiveness: 

  1. Both of the STRIVE Prep programs are committed to recruiting a diverse pool of judges. 

  2. Diverse panels of judges for outrounds. 

  3. An anti-bias judge virtual training required for all judges before ballots are released to them. 

We want to encourage coaches to be proactive in the event an inappropriate comment is made on the ballot that they believe was part of the judge’s decision. Being asynchronous helps facilitate rectifying this issue. Below are the steps we are committed to taking:

  1. We will make ballots available to coaches regularly. We want to encourage coaches to review ballots and notify the tournament directors of any problematic ballots. 

  2. If a problematic ballot is discovered in prelims, that round will be re-adjudicated. All students will receive their best rank from either judge. (Likely will result in two “1st” or  “2nd”; we are fine with that. 

  3. If a problematic ballot is discovered in outrounds, an additional judge will adjudicate that round. If the judge’s rank would have resulted in that student advancing to the next round, they will be manually advanced. In outrounds, only the student whose ballot was challenged will have the potential to receive a different rank. 

Finally, we realize these steps that we have committed to are only part of a larger conversation on the issues of equity and diversity in our activity. Any suggested updates to our equity statement are welcomed to be shared at our Coaches’ Meet & Greet. Details will be sent out in a separate email.

 
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