Mean Green Comet Debate Institute Administration

scott.herndon@utdallas.edu

Scott Herndon joined The University of Texas at Dallas Debate Program in 2002 as the Head Coach and became the Director of the Program in 2012. In that time, UT Dallas has qualified for the National Debate Tournament (NDT) 11 years in a row, been awarded multiple First Round at-Large bids, received invitations to the Kentucky and the Dartmouth Round Robin competitions, and reached the quarterfinals of the NDT in 2010 and the elimination debates of Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) nationals for eight consecutive years (2003-2012). An experienced instructor and judge, he has been a debate camp instructor at The Comet Debate Institute, the University of Missouri Kansas City, The World Debate Institute, Baylor University, University of North Texas and the University of Kansas. Scott was recognized as the CEDA Southwest Region Critic of the Year in 2004 and 2009.

Louie served as the Associate Director of Debate at the University of North Texas for two decades and has Directed the MGCDI for the past 10 years. He received his MA from Missouri State University where he coached from 2006 to 2008. He coached the 2008 and 2009 National Debate Tournament (NDT) Top Speakers, the 2008 NDT and Cross Examination Debate Association semifinalist, numerous first round at large bids to the NDT, and over 12 teams to quarterfinals or better at the NDT and/or Cross Examination Debate Association national tournaments. Louie was recognized as the CEDA Southwest Region Critic of the Year in 2008 and 2011.

He has also served as an argument coach for numerous high school debate programs, coaching high school teams to both the final rounds of the TOC and the NSDA. He has served as an argument coach for Carrollton of the Sacred Heart (2007-2008), Woodward Academy (2009-2011), Glenbrook North (2012), Southlake Carroll (2014-2015), Glenbrook South (2016) and Pace Academy (2017-2019).

sykesdebate@gmail.com

Dr. Jason Sykes is the Director of Speech & Debate at Coppell High School and a nationally recognized debate educator with more than 25 years of coaching experience.

Dr. Sykes previously founded and directed the University of North Texas Mean Green Debate Workshops for 13 years. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Science and is currently a JD Candidate at Syracuse University.

His students have earned championships and top speaker awards at the highest levels of competition, including the Tournament of Champions, National Debate Tournament, NSDA National Finals, and major invitationals such as Harvard, Berkeley, Glenbrooks, and Greenhill. Coppell teams have won six Texas Forensic Association State Championships since 2019.

Dr. Sykes was inducted into the Texas Forensic Association Hall of Fame in 2020 and is a Life Member of the National Debate Coaches Association. As a college debater at the University of North Texas, he competed in policy debate and advanced to elimination rounds at multiple national championship tournaments.