Georgetown Policy Debate Seminar

Darcell is from Detroit, Michigan and previously debated for Michigan State University from 2013-2016. He is the current head coach at University High School Academy in Southfield, Michigan. During the 2017-2018 debate season, he coached his team to the finals of the Detroit Urban Debate City Championship, JV State finals and the Octo-Finals of the National UDL tournament his first year as a coach. This will be Darcell’s fourth year working at the Georgetown Debate Seminar. He has worked at other camps as well including the Detroit Summer Institute, DC UDL Camp and the Spartan Debate Institute.

Genevieve is a senior Political Science major at the University of Kentucky. She has attended the NDT twice at Kentucky and competed in the 2019 Kentucky Round Robin. Most recently, she was the eighth speaker at the Harvard tournament. This will be Genevieve’s fifth summer working at debate camp, previously having taught at the Michigan Debate Camp.

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.

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 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 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.

Sam debate for Nevada Union High school from 1998-2002. He is one of a handful of active policy debate coaches to have coached ToC champions from two different schools. He has coached teams into the late elimination rounds at nearly every major tournament in high school debate. Before working at Saint Francis, Sam coached for the College Preparatory School, C.K. McClatchy, Nevada Union, and New Trier. Sam was recently recognized as one of the top ten in rounds judged in the history of tabroom.com (new window), so he’s seen a lot of debates. Sam majored in Political Science at U.C. Berkeley and holds an M.F.A. in theatre studies from Brown University.

Will is a tenured professor of communication and a recipient of the National Debate Tournament’s George Ziegelmueller award for coaching excellence. Will has coached highly competitive teams at both the college and high-school levels. As a debater at the University of Wyoming, William qualified for the National Debate Tournament all four years and was one of the first Wyoming teams to compete in elimination rounds in nearly 30 years. Prior to joining Trinity he held a Graduate Assistant Coaching position at the University of Georgia while completing his Ph.D.