Dear Forensics Friends,

 

You are cordially invited to the Audrey Cunningham Forensics 500 Speech & Debate Tournament! The University of Indianapolis Department of Communication will host this event on Saturday, December 5, 2026. This will be a swing competition with the Butler University Circle City Classic tournament, which takes place on Sunday, December 6, 2026.

 

The UIndy Forensics 500 is a one-day tournament with both Individual Events and IPDA Debate. The tournament is structured in two flights plus finals, with all 11 NFA I.E. events included. Students can only compete in I.E. or IPDA—NOT both. For I.E. events, we rank an open division so entries are unlimited per event. Tournament registration will be run through Speechwire.com. We will recognize top novices and create novice sections for any event with more entries.

 

We will involve as many alums and local judges as possible to lighten the judging load, but all judges are expected to be available for finals. I.E. slots will be $8 per slot. We will have guest internet access for all competitors; however, we unfortunately cannot guarantee access to technology for visual aids in competition rooms.

 

For those of you coming out of town, there are several nice hotels off I-65 and the Southport Road exit as well as Holiday Inn Express and Comfort Inn on S. East Street (near I-465 and US 31).  All parking lots are unrestricted on UIndy’s campus on the weekend. There are several lots directly behind the library and Fine Arts Center. There are several restaurants near the university available to order from through Doordash or Grubhub. We will provide coffee, donuts, and afternoon snacks for all attendees. Pizza will be provided in the judges' lounge.

 

So, join us in Esch Hall (1330 Otterbein Circle, Indianapolis, IN 46227) for the competition and celebration of our forensics tradition! Please contact Manuel Reyes at reyesmg@uindy.edu with any and all questions. Note that the entry deadline is 5:00 pm, EST, Tuesday, December 1, 2026. More information to come on speechwire.com. We look forward to welcoming you to our campus!

 

All the best, 

 

 

Manuel Reyes                                                   Janis Crawford                                   

Director of Forensics                               

Assistant Professor of Practice                         Butler University 

University of Indianapolis                                                                                         

Tournament Director

 

Ally Nickerson Jordan Weddle

Assistant Coach                                                Assistant Coach

University of Indianapolis                                  University of Indianapolis

Co-Tournament Director

 

(vr24)