I dare say La Verne is supportive of this idea.

John Patrick

On Apr 12, 2013, at 10:56 AM, "Barnes, R Eric" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I cannot be at Nationals this weekend, but I wanted to say that I fully support the establishment of an annual North American BP Championship tournament (NA UDC).
> 
> To that end, the HWS / IDEA Round Robin is planning to offer an automatic bid to the winner of this year's NAUDC, generously hosted by Hart House.  If there is anything else I can do to support this effort to add another excellent tournament to our calendar, please let me know.
> 
> Good luck to everyone at La Verne.
> 
> All the Best,
> Eric
> 
> 
> ******************************************
> Eric Barnes
> Hobart and William Smith Colleges
> Philosophy Department
> Public Policy Program
> Debate Coach
> (315) 781-3182
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> 
> On Apr 12, 2013, at 8:45 AM, Alfred Snider wrote:
> 
> Something to consider.
> 
> Tuna
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject:        NorAm BPs
> Date:   Thu, 11 Apr 2013 02:16:13 -0400
> From:   James P.E. Hardy <[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> To:     [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Tuna,
> 
> Louis asked me to forward the following to you:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hello Mr. Snider,
> 
> 
> Hart House will be going forward with hosting the inaugural BP
> Championships for North America, and we would immensely appreciate
> your input and - if you think our initial is worthwhile - your support.
> 
> 
> As USUs is coming up, we would enormously appreciate it if you would
> canvass the concerns and opinions of the American debating community,
> especially for the schools that are heavily involved in BP debating in
> the United States. Your stature and experience in the American
> debating community would be incredibly helpful in accurately assessing
> the mood of schools south of the border (something a Canadian like
> myself would be unable to do), and your opinion personally would also
> be tremendously valuable to us.
> 
> 
> The tournament is open to input to consider the different experiences
> of universities across North America, but also the general interests
> of the American BP debating community. While we would guarantee 5
> preliminary rounds, quarter-finals, and two American DCAs at minimum,
> we are open to alternatives if that would add to the tournament
> quality and would be feasible from a logistical perspective. Your
> insights here would be really useful, especially in terms of liaising
> with other American schools to give us a broader picture of the
> concerns of the American debating community.
> 
> 
> The information below may also be of some help in providing additional
> relevant information.
> 
> 
> If you have any questions or concerns, please email me. While I am in
> the middle of law exams, I will try and answer as soon as possible.
> 
> 
> Your input and support would be phenomenal for us to create the best
> tournament possible,
> Louis Tsilivis,
> CUSID President 2012-2013
> Co-CA, North American BP Debating Championships 2013
> 
> 
> ___________________________________
> 
> 
> In the past month or so, after extensive discussions with members from
> the both the Canadian and American university debating communities, it
> has become apparent that there is a widespread desire to hold a North
> American university debating championship in the British Parliamentary
> (BP) format.
> 
> 
> The continent already has a championship in North American
> Parliamentary format (a hybrid of Canadian and American formats) and
> BP championships for each country. A continental championship in the
> BP format would do much to aid the spread of the debate format, give
> North Americans an opportunity to debate against students from other
> circuits, and help give the region a championship where Canadian and
> American debating clubs would be accorded their due weight
> internationally.
> 
> 
> Since a number of the larger Canadian and American clubs have
> expressed their inability or unwillingness to host such a championship
> on such short notice, the Hart House Debating Club has accepted the
> call from members of the North American debating community to host the
> inaugural tournament.
> 
> 
> The tournament would be held from October 18-20, 2013, in place of
> Hart House’s annual IV, and be open to all teams representing North
> American universities. Hybrid teams would not be permitted and all
> teams must be composed of two currently-enrolled students from the
> same university.
> 
> 
> The tournament will have, at minimum, five preliminary rounds with a
> break to quarter-finals. The break will be announced at Hart House’s
> traditional Saturday evening banquet in the Great Hall. Hart House
> will consider the feasibility of additional preliminary rounds, an
> expanded break, and novice and ESL finals (considering French Canada
> has a large and very active debating community).
> 
> 
> Ashvin Singh and Thomas Slabon will be serving as tournament
> directors. Thomas has a breadth of experiencing in running events at
> Trinity College and Ashvin has successful organized tournaments at the
> University of Alberta, including Canadian Nationals.
> 
> 
> Veenu Goswami and Louis Tsilivis, who were the planned co-CAs of the
> Hart House IV, will serve as the championship’s co-CAs. This year they
> both won the Canadian National Debating Championships. Louis
> additionally won the Central Canadian Debating Championships and was a
> semi-finalist at the Oxford and the Yale IVs. Veenu additionally won
> the Oxford IV and was a finalist at the Cambridge and Yale IVs.
> 
> 
> There will be a call for applications for at least two American DCAs,
> with a focus on having at least one DCA representing schools within
> APDA and one representing schools from outside of APDA.
> 
> 
> The championships received a unanimous endorsement from CUSID at the
> national meeting in Vancouver, and schools from both the APDA and
> US-BP circuits have already declared their support for the tournament
> in principle.
> In the mould of title tournaments in North America and around the
> world, the championships would rotate among universities in the
> continent, and Hart House would not be the host school for the next
> academic year.
> 
> 
> While political decisions regarding the selection of future hosts, the
> creation of a governing body (if any), or an MOU to govern the
> championships are still open questions, it is the belief that these
> questions can be decided on at a later date – either before or even at
> the tournament this fall – by the North American debating community.