2026 Harvard College Debating Union Season Opener

On behalf of the Harvard College Debating Union, we are so excited to invite you to the 2nd annual Harvard College Debating Union Season Opener September 5th-6th. Although we believe very strongly in the power of in-person debate, we also understand that for many students, flying to Cambridge can be inaccessible. In this vein, we have decided to make the tournament entirely online.

The tournament will run over both tabroom and zoom, with more information about zoom links published closer to the tournament.

This year, we will be offering 5 events: Varsity Public Forum, JV Public Forum, Novice Public Forum, Varsity Lincoln Douglas, JV Lincoln Douglas, and Open Parliamentary. Moreover, the winners of Open Parliamentary and Varsity PF will also receive a$1,000 cash prize and the winners of Varsity LD will receive a $500 cash prize.

We are excited to announce that the Parli division will count towards the NYPDL Championship and the NPDL-TOC.

Rules

Parliamentary

This tournament will use National Parliamentary Debate League Online Round Rules. American parliamentary debate features two 2-person teams in a round, with twenty minutes prep time. For this tournament, we are doing partner prep only (no consulting coaches or other teams during prep). Internet research is allowed during prep time, but once the round starts, the internet may be used only for communication with other round participants, note taking, and accessing notes prepared during prep time. During prep time, you are not able to access files with pre-written notes or backfiles.

Pairings will be released approximately 15 minutes prior to start time.

All participants should report to the online rooms within 5 minutes after pairings are released.

All participants must return to and remain in the online rooms 10 minutes before the start time.