Debate Education

For Tomorrow’s Collaborative Community Leaders

For decades, competitive debate has been a launchpad for academic achievement and professional success, helping students cultivate skills like critical thinking, public speaking, and strategic reasoning.

Now the world is changing in unpredictable ways, and traditional debate education—anchored in zero-sum competition and inherited hierarchies—no longer reflects the full spectrum of how we learn, lead, and connect today.

At CoLab Debate, we see debate as a space not only for argument and individual achievement but for inquiry, teamwork, and principled engagement with the world beyond the classroom.

Our Summer Institute for Debate and Advocacy (SIDA) invites students into the world of community advocacy by teaching core speech and debate skills alongside key organizing skills like coalition building, media literacy and strategy, and conflict resolution.

At SIDA, CoLab Debate will unlock new pathways to success for students who want to make as big of an impact on the world as they make at debate tournaments.

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About CoLab Debate Programs

Summer Institute for Debate & Advocacy

At SIDA, students develop their competitive speech and debate skills while learning to use those skills to collaborate, influence change, navigate conflict, design and operate campaigns and events, and lead with purpose.

In 2026, CoLab Debate will provide full SIDA scholarships to 20 systems-impacted Scholars. Beginning in 2027, we will also invite paying students into our learning space.

If you’re interested in applying for a 2026 Summer Debate Institute scholarship, look for application instructions here in winter 2025.

Publications

Our approach to education is collaborative and cooperative, and deeply rooted in the history and accomplishments of community organizers, public interest advocates, and innovative educators. 

We publish and provide original curricular materials to help debaters and debate coaches draw connections between debate resolutions and the important work being done to address those issues in communities today.

Check back with us later this summer when we will begin posting articles, interviews, and more.

Virtual Debate Education

CoLab Debate’s educational programming isn’t limited to our summer camp. Our innovative curriculum is available to all debaters, coaches, and programs.

We make our programming easy to access, because when debaters gain the transferrable skills they need to become collaborative community leaders, we all win.

In 2026, CoLab Debate will launch a diverse virtual curriculum, including classes, competitions, opportunities for networking with contemporary organizers, and more.

FAQs

  • Imagine students:

    • Debating local solutions, not just federal policy, empowering students to envision and create meaningful change within their own communities

    • Developing skills like strategic cooperation and conflict resolution through a collaborative approach to competitive debate

    • Studying both traditional and contemporary forms of advocacy, in a space that values innovation and unconventional perspectives

    • Researching strategies for effective public communication, both historical and recent

    • Learning from and networking with effective contemporary organizers, including community and campaign leaders, public interest lawyers, and local elected officials

  • Our curriculum draws from diverse sources, including:

    • Kate Shuster's work on debate education, civic participation, and historical literacy

    • The participatory theater of Augusto Boal

    • Shanara Reid-Brinkley's scholarly work on debate, representation, and empowerment in academic spaces

    • The work of Baltimore’s Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, redefining public policy with a focus on community empowerment

    • The groundbreaking work of Gordon Mitchell, a CoLab advisor, on debate as a forum of community engagement

    • Alfred "Tuna" Snider's lifelong work expanding debate to new communities

    • CoLab advisor Lindsey Cormack's efforts to promote political dialogue among youth

    • The grassroots organizing strategies of groups like Right to the City, Dakota Rural Action, the Sunrise Movement, and others

  • In 2026, CoLab Debate will provide full SIDA scholarships to 20 systems-impacted high school students. We will release information about scholarship applications for this initial cohort later in 2025.

    Starting in 2027 we will expand registration to invite paying students into our summer learning space. Don’t worry, you don’t have to wait until 2027 to access to our curriculum. You don’t even have to attend our camp.

    Beginning in late 2025, we will offer year-round opportunities access to our curriculum through publications, virtual courses, competitions, and more.

  • There are countless ways you can join the pod. Here are a few:

    • Share information about CoLab Debate in your network

    • Donate to our Startup Campaign or set up a recurring donation

    • Endow a SIDA scholarship

    • Sign up for your employer’s donation matching program

    • Connect us with a business interested in corporate giving or in kind donations

    • Host a house party fundraiser

    • Apply to serve on our Advisory Board

    • Volunteer your skills (e.g., redesign our website, write a grant application, or assist us with social media)

    • Make an in kind contribution (e.g., donate a printer)

    • Connect us with other people who will do any of the above

    • Let us know if you have more ideas!

  • Oregon, home of CoLab Debate, is well known for its active pods of orcas. Orcas are highly intelligent and cooperative animals. They live collectively in pods, coordinate hunting tactics, and pass down knowledge and strategic insight to their young. We can’t imagine a better mascot for CoLab Debate!