OLC 25 --> SCHEDULE

*Updated 8/1/2025*

Greetings from the Northwestern Debate Society,

We are excited to invite you to the 60th Owen L. Coon Memorial Debate Tournament, to be held at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus from Saturday, September 6th through Monday, September 8th, 2025. This is a week earlier than we normally host due to classroom availability on campus; we anticipate that we will return to our normal date on the second weekend in September for 2026 and 2027.

Key Updates for the 2025 OLC:

Fees: We are introducing a significantly revised fee structure from last year. Each participant (debater, coach, judge, or observer) will be assessed a $70 fee, whether competing in-person or online (these are down from the $150 virtual and $80 live fees of 2024). We understand that there are many programs facing budget difficulties this season; please contact the tournament directly (see contact info below) to discuss possible accommodations if you would like to participate but are unable to due to budget challenges. We will open an online payment portal as we get closer to the tournament.

Hotels: We have confirmed that there will NOT be a designated hotel block or official tournament hotel this year. However, Evanston and nearby Skokie offer a variety of reasonably priced hotels. Additional options are available near O’Hare Airport and in downtown Chicago. We thought we might be able to broker a hotel block with the Orrington in July but were unable to secure enough room commitments at the prices the hotel proposed.

Novice Division: This year we will offer an Online Novice Division. Participants in the division will use the American Debate Association’s (ADA) novice packet, and all participants must adhere to the novice eligibility rules established by the ADA. Due to limited in-person room availability, the Novice Division will be conducted entirely online.

Tournament Details:

Location: Our plan is to host all debates, including elims, on campus.

Divisions: We will offer Open, JV, and Novice (Novice is online-only) divisions.

Format: The 2025 OLC will feature eight preliminary rounds and will break to a full double-octafinals in Open. The JV and Novice divisions will each feature six preliminary rounds with at least half the field advancing to elimination rounds in both divisions.

Participation: Everyone is strongly encouraged to participate in-person at the tournament, but we will accommodate remote teams as well. The novice division will be entirely online.

Tournament Tab Staff

Dr. Daniel Fitzmier is the Tournament Director. Gary Larson will tabulate the tournament. Nik Stamenković Diez will be the Assistant Tournament Director.

We look forward to welcoming you in September! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at d-fitzmier@northwestern.edu and nikolastamdiez@u.northwestern.edu.

Sincerely,

Dr. Daniel Fitzmier & Nik Stamenkovic Diez on behalf of the Northwestern Debate Society

*The tournament invite is subject to updates between now and the tournament.