Hello Fellow Ragers!

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Speech and Debate Team is pleased to invite you to the IN-PERSON, like actually on our campus, 3rd Annual “Rage on the Bayou” High School Tournament on December 3-4. With support from the Department of Communication, we are pleased to offer the opportunity to get feedback from college professors, graduate students, collegiate competitors, and undergraduate students specifically taught and trained to give constructive criticism in the argumentative performing arts. In addition, we also want to make our faculty members, coaches, and team members available to answer any questions you or your students may have about college life or collegiate competitions. We’re also excited to offer Lincoln-Douglas Debate on Friday this year!! 

Schools may register for our tournament via Speechwire by 4:00 PM on Tuesday, November 30. In addition to Lincoln-Douglas Debate, we will once again host Individual Events, including the following:  Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Oral Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, and Duet Acting, Original Oratory, Declamation, Impromptu Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Informative Speaking. 

Divisions

We plan to have both Senior and Junior Divisions in DI, HI, OI, Duo, Duet, Impromptu, and Extemp. Events only as Senior Division: OO, Info, and POI. Events only as Junior Division: Declamation.  We plan to offer Novice and Advanced Divisions in Lincoln-Douglas. 8th graders and younger are welcome to compete in the appropriate divisions of the various individual, team, and debate events. 

Rules and Guidelines

We will follow the Louisiana High School Speech League’s rules and guidelines for all of the events, except for Impromptu Speaking. With Impromptu Speaking, we will follow the collegiate style of presenting each section per round with a set of 2 unique quotations upon one of which each student may choose to speak. As such, students should not be in the room during other speaker’s speeches unless they have already presented. Guidelines for judges’ facilitation of these rounds, and the basic instructions we will give to all of our judges for all events, will be included in a “Judging Tip Sheet” available at the ballot table and in Speechwire. 

Geaux Cajuns!

Charles Stowers Womelsdorf, Jr., PhD.

Director of Forensics

Department of Communication

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

womelsdorf@louisiana.edu 

General Information

Flight Patterns

Flight A: Ext, OO, POI, Duet, HI

Flight B: Imp, Dec, Info, Duo, DI, OI

Tentative Tournament Schedule

Friday, December 3

Registration 12:30 PM (Burke-Hawthorne Hall)

LD Round 1 1:30 PM

LD Round 2 2:30 PM

LD Round 3 3:30 PM

LD Round 4 4:30 PM

Dinner

LD Elim 1 6:00 PM

LD Elim 2 7:00 PM

LD Elim 3 8:00 PM

Saturday, December 4

Registration  7:00 AM (Burke-Hawthorne Hall)

Ext Draw      7:30 AM 

Flight A Rd 1 8:00 AM

Flight B Rd 1 9:15 AM

Ext Draw      10:30 AM

Flight A Rd 2    11:00 AM 

Flight B Rd 2 1:30 PM

Ext Draw 2:45 PM

Elimination Round 3:15 PM

Elimination Round 4:30 PM

Elimination Round 6:00 PM (if necessary)

Awards        8:00 PM (Burke-Hawthorne Theatre)        

   

Fees & Deadlines

Again, teams can register at Speechwire by 4:00 PM on the Tuesday prior to the tournament. The fees are $5 per covered entry (Duo and Duet are considered 1 entry per pair) and an additional $5 per uncovered entry. A judge covers 2 Lincoln-Douglas entries and 6 Individual Events entries. We will be pre-assigning judges. If you cannot supply the specific name of a judge by the registration deadline on Tuesday, you may group up to 3 judges under the name of your mascot plus a letter (e.g., “Ragin Cajun A”). You will be able to specify times specific judges can be present in Speechwire. Drops after Wednesday, December 1, at noon will incur an additional $5 fee. Drops after 12:00 PM on Friday, December 3, will incur an additional $15 nuisance fee.

Entry Limits

We encourage teams to limit students to 3 events per flight, but it’s your call. We allot an extra 15 minutes to each round for the sake of campus navigation, but the rounds are an hour and fifteen minutes without exception, so it’s up to the students to get to their rounds on time. To keep the tournament on schedule, we will tell judges to return their ballots if there are only ten minutes or less remaining and a student or students have yet to arrive or sign in. If the tournament requires any semifinal rounds (30+ entries), these will occur during the first Elimination Round, along with Flight A or just Extemp depending on the numbers. Otherwise, Elimination Rounds will simply parallel the Flight Patterns. We will, of course, strive to accommodate Extemp competitors who break in multiple events via speaking order. Please consider all of these factors when making your decisions. 

Judge Ethics

Judges should act professionally and demonstrate respect for academic freedom when engaged in the critique, ranking, and rating of students. The American Forensics Association is a community based on inclusion and therefore judges shall not include on ballots any comments which alienates, marginalizes, attacks, threatens, or insults a person or group on the basis of national origin, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.

-Taken from the AFA-NIET By-Laws

Awards

All elimination round competitors will receive an award. We will also award the top 5 teams, top 5 Senior Division competitors, and the top 5 Junior Division competitors. Students must be entered in at least 4 events to qualify for Individual Sweepstakes. We will also award the top 5 Overall students competing in both IEs and Debate. Like most things, tiebreakers in outrounds will follow the LHSSL’s  system.

Parking & Internet

Internet will be available: Geauxguest Wifi (24hr; can be renewed). Parking shouldn’t be an issue; just pay attention to signs and fire hydrants. We will try to keep the tournament centralized around Burke-Hawthorne and the Quad area (from Moody Hall to Maxim Doucet), so parking along Hebrard Street is prime real estate. Larger buses tend to park next to Martin Hall or the E.K. Long Gym. Feel free to drop students off outside Burke-Hawthorne Hall before you park. 

Campus Maps

Lodging

For out-of-town schools, there are plenty of lodging options that a quick search will reveal. The hotels on Pinhook are in somewhat busier areas than the ones on Kalliste Saloom, but the cluster of hotels on these two main streets are your best bet.

(vr)