University of Northern Iowa Speech and Debate

University of Northern Iowa Speech and Debate The University of Northern Iowa Speech and Debate Team is the oldest on-campus student organization.

UNI Forensics is the home of the intercollegiate speech and debate competition teams. Not only are we the oldest student activity at Northern Iowa, but we are also the only college or university in Iowa to offer students the opportunity to compete in both debate and speech. We are proud of this distinction and strive to excel in both areas. UNI Forensics has students from disciplines all across ca

mpus. Students have access to a variety of resources, including:

*Fully-wired squad room with laptop and desktop computers
*Individualized coaching with an award-winning staff
*Merit-based and need-based scholarships
*Travel fees paid (registration, hotel, and meal stipends) for tournament participation
*And more!

04/08/2026
Please join us!
03/30/2026

Please join us!

Congratulations All-Staters! Come visit on the 2nd floor of Lang and learn about opportunities to continue Speech and De...
03/30/2026

Congratulations All-Staters! Come visit on the 2nd floor of Lang and learn about opportunities to continue Speech and Debate in college(scholarships and course credit)!

Go Panther Debate!
12/08/2025

Go Panther Debate!

2 team members competed at the The Larry Schnoor Invitational hosted at University of Minnesota-Mankato. Senior and Team...
10/20/2025

2 team members competed at the The Larry Schnoor Invitational hosted at University of Minnesota-Mankato. Senior and Team President, Abby Akers and sophomore Ryan Sales.

4th Place, Persuasive Speaking, Ryan Sales

5th Place, Persuasive Speaking, Abby Akers

04/23/2025

The Speech Panthers competed the NFA National Tournament hosted at lovely Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. A huge thank you to the committees that made this amazing tournament possible. Thank you to my team (students and coaches) for their hard work all season! Thank you to fellow coaches for the wisdom filled ballots and delightful conversations. Thank you to the student competitors for sharing your advocacy!

Results
Octafinalist- Prose Interpretation, Sarah Elser
Quarterfinalist- Dramatic Interpretation, Sarah Elser

Team Sweepstakes
9th Place President's III

Send a message to learn more

And with that, the 2025 National Debate Tournament comes to an end…Kat / Burke finished 76th in the country after 8 long...
04/09/2025

And with that, the 2025 National Debate Tournament comes to an end…

Kat / Burke finished 76th in the country after 8 long and hard debates. They debated teams from Oklahoma University, Northwestern University, University of Wyoming, United States Military Academy, Cornell and George Mason University. They received valuable feedback from coaches and instructors from Macalester, George Mason, NYU, Harvard, Liberty and so many more. And most importantly, they learned a lot about the technical aspects of argumentation and advocacy while having fun doing so.

Beyond the competition, we enjoyed our time in Spokane! Our generous host, Gonzaga University, holds a beautiful campus and local eateries. We walked along the river, visited a local bookstore, ate some delicious Ethiopian and Italian food, visited a local park, and overall filled our days with adventure between competition.

We are proud to represent our district and be one of the few districts who had every policy-competing school in attendance. Shoutout Iowa, Macalaster, and Minnesota! D4!

Congratulations to Binghamton for winning the NDT!

We are very grateful for the support we’ve received from the community, the university, and our department. Fundraising efforts are ongoing but as always, thank you to all who helped get us here!

Our competition is done but our work isn’t! We will take a few days to rest and then we will start working on our arguments for next year.

Special thanks to our Speech Alumni who came and guest coaches as we prep for Nationals! Scott Bredman Ryan Courtney Ant...
03/02/2025

Special thanks to our Speech Alumni who came and guest coaches as we prep for Nationals! Scott Bredman Ryan Courtney Anthony Peavy Bri Devin Malena Silva . Thanks for your continued support! We appreciate all of our alumni.

The Speech Panthers went to Love fest in Eau Claire, WI hosted by UW Eau Claire and their Alumni! Follow us at UniSpeech...
02/11/2025

The Speech Panthers went to Love fest in Eau Claire, WI hosted by UW Eau Claire and their Alumni! Follow us at UniSpeechStudents on Instagram

UNI Speech traveled to Whitewater, WI to Compete at the Edna Sorber Invitational and MAFL 5 on December 7-8.Edna Sorber1...
12/09/2024

UNI Speech traveled to Whitewater, WI to Compete at the Edna Sorber Invitational and MAFL 5 on December 7-8.

Edna Sorber
1st Place, Persuasive Speaking, Morgan Kielly
2nd Place, Dramatic Interpretation, Grace Hamman
4th Place, Programmed Oral Interpretation, Ryan Sales

MAFL 5
1st Place, Poetry Interpretation, Maddie Brouwer
2nd Place, Dramatic Interpretation, Grace Hamman
2nd Place, Persuasive Speaking, Morgan Kielly
3rd Place, Programmed Oral interpretation, Ryan Sales

We qualified every event to nationals and both Ryan and Maddie qualled their events on the first time competing!

Address

218 Lang
Cedar Falls, IA
50613

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