General Information

Join forces with some of the best debaters and individual event competitors in the  country. Concordia’s forensics team regularly wins state championships and places in top tiers at Nationals. We welcome competitors of all skill and experience levels, quickly giving students the skills they need to succeed.

Speech and debate also meld beautifully with academics at Concordia. Our team members typically excel academically as well, transferring their research, writing, speech and critical thinking skills to the classroom. In fact, we’ve boasted a 100-percent four-year graduation rate for more than 20 years. Students who competed all eight semesters graduated at the end of that time.

In addition to frequent meetings, practices, coach sessions and competitions for its members, the forensics program sponsors these activities:

To reward a job well done and encourage participation in forensics, the college awards two $10,000 scholarships each year during the W.E. Lillo Debate Tournament. These non-need based scholarships are based on Lillo Tournament performance and other criteria. Concordia Debate and Speech Scholarships are also awarded each year.

The forensics program is sponsored by Concordia’s communication studies and theatre art department. The program is directed by Dr. Fred Sternhagen, with assistant coaches Jason Regnier (Debate), Megan Orcholski (Speech), and Chris Scott (Speech).

Fill out this form if you’re interested in learning more about our program.

Information For:

current students
faculty and staff		 parents
alumni		 high school students
admitted students