Dear colleagues,

 The cool cats of the Eastern Illinois University Panthers and the McKendree University Bearcats cordially invite you to attend the Purrfect Pals Fur-ensics Swing on Saturday February 20th and Sunday February 21st, 2021 online. Both halves will offer all 11 AFA events in a synchronous format via Forensicstournament.net and the 8x8 platform. 

We will offer two individual events tournaments over the weekend with the full slate of AFA events. The Bearcat Half will take place on Saturday, while the Panther Half will occur on Sunday. Both halves will offer awards for the top six in each event, individual sweepstakes awards for the top three competitors, and team sweepstakes awards for the top three schools.  This year, to reflect the changing times and to respect ongoing efforts in student wellness, students competing in 3 or more events will be eligible for individual sweepstakes awards.

Entries are due Tuesday, February 16th, by 5:00 p.m CST.  Changes may be made without charge until Wednesday, February 17th, at 5:00 p.m CST.  Registration for both tournaments will be submitted via ForensicsTournament.net.

We know you have many tournament options this year, and hope you’re able to join us.  

Sincerely,

Joe Blasdel                                                    Stephen Hagan                                                                                      Director of Speech and Debate             Speech Coach
McKendree University                            McKendree University 

Sara Gronstal                                          
Director of Forensics                                 
Eastern Illinois University                        

P.S. There will be cat videos and memes!

Tournament Schedule 

 All times listed are in Central Standard Time.  Our later-than-usual start time is intended to accommodate for teams who may not be in the CST zone.

Sunday 

9:00 - 10:00 a.m.             Registration

10 a.m.                         Extemp Draw

10:30 AM                          Round 1A (EXT, PER, POE, ADS, PRO, Duo)

11:45                                    Extemp Draw

12:15                                 Round 2A

1:30                                 Lunch Break

2:15 p.m.                      Round 1B (IMP, DI, POI, INF, CA)

3:30                                    Round 2B

5:15 PM or ASAP - Finals for Prose, Drama and Impromptu- all other events will not have final rounds, and will be double judged earlier in the day.                               

ASAP                             Awards (TBA)

Entry and Awards Notes

Pattern A: Extemporaneous, Persuasion, Poetry, After Dinner, Prose, Duo

Pattern B: Impromptu, Drama, POI, Informative, CA

Limits: 3 entries per flight.

Team Sweepstakes: Schools will earn sweepstakes points for a top three ranking in preliminary rounds (3 points-2 points-1 point for a 1, 2, or 3 rank respectively). Placement in final rounds will earn 6 points-5 points-4 points-3 points-2 points-1 point for places 1 through 6 or 7 respectively.

Individual Sweepstakes: Competitors entered in at least three events are eligible for individual sweepstakes.

Local Host Entries: Local hosts may be entered in individual events. They will receive ranks and be eligible for final rounds and individual sweeps. McKendree and EIU will not be eligible for team sweepstakes either day.

Extemp prep will permit internet access as per NFA rules. McKendree will provide wireless internet access as long as it is available and functional. Access to electric outlets will be limited in the extemp prep room.

Impromptu will utilize a mixture of the NFA prelim round topic areas (yet to be announced).

Fees and Judging Obligations

Fees will be calculated according to the following schedule:

IE entries $10.00 per slot

Uncovered IEs $10.00 in addition to the entry fee per slot.

One judge will cover 8 entries across all patterns.

A nuisance fee of $6.00 per slot will be added to the original entry fee for every drop after 5:00pm CST on Wednesday, February 17th. Drops at registration will incur a $10.00 nuisance fee per slot in addition to the original entry fee. Judges dropped after the Wednesday, 5:00 p.m CST. deadline will result in a nuisance fee of $25.00 each plus uncovered fees. ALL fees are assessed as of 5:00 p.m CST., Wednesday February, 17th.

For those paying with a check:

The first half is payable to McKendree University. Contact Joe for information on how to pay electronically.

The second half is payable to Eastern Illinois University. Please write Forensics Gift Account in the memo line and mail checks to:
Sara Gronstal
2612 Richmond Ave
Mattoon, IL 61938

Judge Issues

We will provide a full list of judges to all coaches the week of the tournament and via speechwire (the files to download section) on Friday evening. We ask that if your students have any conflicts with judges for non-competitive reasons that you let us know so we can block the judge from judging the student. This is an easy thing for us to do with Speechwire. Examples of when this could happen might include: the student is a family member/close friend of the judge, a student was harassed/assaulted by a judge, a student was a teammate of the judge, a student was coached by the judge. We absolutely respect the privacy of these decisions. Students can inform us through their coach, or inform the tournament directors directly at sphagan@mckendree.edu or segronstal@eiu.edu. The tournament director will not ask for details and do not expect any, we trust in the decision of the student. We hope that if a judge has participated in improper behavior that the tournament director will be notified so that, if necessary, the judge can be removed from the judging pool before interacting with students, but, it is not required if the student does not feel safe doing so.

Wellness Resources

As we are virtual this year, we encourage you to keep your own supplies for wellness on hand.  If we can help at all, please reach out to the tournament staff for any virtual resources we may be able to provide. 

Anti-Harassment Policy

McKendree University is committed to being an inclusive community that values the worth of each individual while respecting and accepting differences. Harassment is generally defined as verbal, written, or physical conduct based on or motivated by an individual’s protected status that unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work or academic performance or creates a hostile work or educational environment by interfering with or limiting a person’s ability to participate in McKendree’s educational programs and activities. Harassing conduct may take many forms, including verbal acts and name-calling, as well as nonverbal behavior, such as graphic and written statements, or conduct that is physically threatening, harmful, or humiliating. Should we become aware of any harassment occurring during the tournament, we will report it immediately to McKendree’s Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs (who serves as the Title IX Coordinator), Dr. Joni Bastian. You may also contact Dr. Bastian yourself:

@ 618-537-6555, jjbastian@mckendree.edu

Please report behavior that is not in line with our stated anti-harassment policy. If, at any point in time, behavior is reported that is antithetical to a positive learning environment for any tournament participants, we will deal with it accordingly. It will be reported to appropriate official on our campus, properly documented to national forensic organizations, and the offenders will be asked to leave campus. Directors, please remember, you are responsible for the people that you bring to our campus and our virtual spaces.

Food

Since we can’t provide you with snacks over the internet, please make sure to provide ample snacks and water for yourself, and munch to your heart’s content with your microphone off.  If you’re treating yourself or your team to ordering meals, we highly encourage you to support your local businesses which are following appropriate COVID-19 mitigation procedures.  Tip well


If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact your local hosts:

Stephen Hagan at (618) 537-6904 or sphagan@mckendree.edu, Sara Gronstal at (402) 981-5826 or segronstal@eiu.edu