It is one of the nation's strongest competitive debate squads. In addition, Dartmouth teams have placed second at the NDT three times, and they have been semifinalists on nine occasions. While most Dartmouth teams are nationally competitive, the DFU program is open to anyone with experience in team, policy debate. The full squad involves debaters with varying levels of experience and different levels of commitment.
Any experienced debater is welcome to participate.
The College is very generous in its support of debate, and we are able to travel debaters to tournaments at appropriate levels of competition, even if that means sending everyone to the best national circuit tournaments. All debaters compete equally often, but the level of competition is determined by experience and degree of commitment. It is usually the case that those with less experience when they arrive at Dartmouth are soon capable of competing with the best in the country. Debaters return to campus at the beginning of September to finish preparations to begin debating. Tournament travel starts in late September and continues until late March or early April.