Georgetown Policy Debate Seminar
Dates: June 20th-July 9th, 2021
Why Georgetown?
- Held onsite at Georgetown University’s beautiful main campus in Washington, DC.
- Operated by GU’s national championship-winning Policy Debate Team and coaching staff.
- Employs some of the very best instructors from both college and high school policy debate, with diverse backgrounds and a shared track record of competitive success at the highest levels.
Faculty

Darcell Brown
Head Coach, University High School Academy (MI)
Darcell debates for Wayne State University, where he qualified for the 2020 NDT. He is the head coach at University High School Academy in Southfield, Michigan, where he has twice qualified teams to the Urban Debate National Championship (2018-2019), making it to the Octo-Finals both times. This year, his top senior was a Finalist for Debater of the Year. This will be Darcell’s fifth year as an instructor at the Georgetown Debate Seminar. He has also taught at other camps, including the Detroit Summer Institute, DC UDL Camp, and the Spartan Debate Institute.

Nick Lepp
Assistant Coach, University of Georgia and Cypress Bay High School
Nick Lepp has coached at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he coached the team of UNLV GH to receive a first round bid to the National Debate Tournament as the third ranked team in the country. He now coaches at the University of Georgia. During his five years at James Madison University, Nick was a four-time qualifier to the National Debate Tournament himself and an octofinalist at the Cross Examination Debate Association national debate tournament, as well as the winner of numerous regional tournaments. Nick is currently an assistant debate coach at Cypress Bay high school where he has coached their most recent team to two break rounds at the Tournament of Champions. He has also coached several previous schools to qualify to the Tournament of Champions.

Terrell Taylor
Assistant Coach, Montgomery Bell Academy and the University of Mary Washington
Terrell Taylor is an experienced debate coach and instructor who coached the 2020 winner of the Tournament of Champions. He is also a Ph.D. candidate in English and Comparative Media Analysis & Practice at Vanderbilt University.

Tim Mahoney
Director of Debate, St. Mark’s School of Texas
As a college debater, Tim advanced to the final round of 10 tournaments, winning seven of them. As a college coach his teams reached the elimination rounds at 9 consecutive CEDA National tournaments, and he qualified teams for the NDT every year after the merger. In his last year of college coaching, his top team was in the quarter finals of both the NDT and CEDA Nationals. His St. Mark’s teams have won or reached the final round of every major high school tournament including, Greenhill, Glenbrooks, Harvard, Berkeley, Westminster, TOC, NFL/NSDA, Emory, and the NDCA National Championships.

jon sharp
Director of Debate, Georgetown Day School
jon sharp returns for another summer at the Georgetown Debate Seminar as one of its most dedicated, accomplished, and well-loved instructors. At both college and high school levels, jon has coached teams to the late elimination rounds of every major tournament in the country, including multiple CEDA National championships and consistently impressive TOC performances. jon’s unmatched argumentative flexibility and commitment to empowering students has earned him the admiration of countless debaters and coaches.

Danielle Verney-O’Gorman
Director of Debate, United States Naval Academy
Danielle O’Gorman has been the Director of Debate at the United States Naval Academy since 2005, where she also teaches in the Political Science department. She coaches teams at all levels of collegiate debate but particularly enjoys helping less-experienced debaters advance in skills and research ability. Prior to joining the Georgetown staff, she taught at the Gonzaga Debate Institute, the Liberty Debate Camp, and the Capitol Classic Debate Institute.