COMMUNITY
2018-2019 Inclusion Commitments Update by Amy Seidelman
T
he National Speech & Debate Association’s Coaches’ Caucuses, held at the National Speech & Debate Tournament, continue to offer ideas for the organization’s inclusion efforts. This is an update on progress made during the 2018-2019 competitive season based on recommendations formed at the 2018 National Tournament. Goal: The NSDA will highlight best practices for diversity and inclusion within the speech and debate community. Approach: • Revised the NSDA Harassment
and Discrimination Policy to include additional examples and promoted as a best practice for speech and debate tournaments. • Established a monthly email sharing safe tournament resources to tournament hosts with upcoming events registered on Tabroom.com, and promoted the NSDA best practice guides for safe tournaments on social media and in newsletters. • Provided cultural competency training for members serving Latinx student populations in the form of a webinar, and featured various coach/ student identities in Rostrum.
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ROSTRUM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019
• Promoted a Plus One program
for coaches or district leaders, encouraging them to invite the coach or administrator of a prospective school to the district tournament and help them network with coaches from existing programs. Encouraged similar invitations to the National Tournament as exposure to the activity.
Goal: The NSDA will strive for leadership that represents the diversity of our speech and debate community. Approach: • Continued to collect and analyze
demographic information of NSDA staff, tab staff, district leadership, National Tournament finalists, and topic wording committees to ensure our programs are providing equitable access and representation to all. • Continued to ensure that all award winners accurately represent the NSDA’s core value of Inclusion. Encouraged districts to use the Code of Honor in the selection process for district-level awards. • Extended Tabroom.com training invitations to all district leaders new to hosting their tournaments on Tabroom. Created a guide to registering for districts and provided inperson Tabroom.com support to a number of tournaments.
Goal: The NSDA will celebrate diversity and inclusion within the speech and debate community. Approach: • Added National Hispanic
Heritage Month and Pride Month to our monthly celebration series featuring posters and resources. • On social media, celebrated Women’s History Month, Celebrate Diversity Month, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. • Offered free posters online and via membership certificate mailings, and made a portion of each collection available via the NSDA Store.
Goal: The NSDA will continue to provide and promote safe spaces for underrepresented or marginalized groups to meet. Approach: Continued to offer and promote the Coaches’ Caucuses during the 2019 National Tournament.