2025 Rocky Mountain Debating Championship at MSU Denver

October 17-19, 2025

Dear friends,

You are invited to attend the 2025 Rocky Mountain Debating Championship at Metropolitan State University of Denver! This tournament, a collaboration between the University of Denver and MSU Denver, will be held on our campus in the Central and West Classroom Buildings. We are steps away from Larimer Square, the 16^th Street Mall, Meow Wolf, and Denver’s arts and cultural districts.

Check-in will be on the evening of October 17, and rounds will take place on October 18-19, 2025. This tournament will feature 6 rounds of preliminary debates, a novice breakout, and semifinals break in varsity (with the option to add a quarterfinal round if we reach a certain number of entries). We will follow YODL rules and procedures for this tournament including a topic strike based on the areas selected for the fall semester. We will not be using open adjudication at this tournament. This is a free tournament open to any all participants. We look forward to hosting you at MSU Denver!!

Sincerely,

John Rief                             Rob Margesson

MSU Denver                         University of Denver

jrief1@msudenver.edu         robert.margesson@du.edu

Registration Information

There will be no registration fee for this tournament. The judge commitment per school will be N-1. Please supply as many chairs as you can. We are planning to hire a limited number of local judges but will need everyone to pitch in to reach the numbers required to run the tournament. We will assess a fee of $50.00 per uncovered team.

Please enter your teams on forensicstournament.net by Monday, October 13. No new registrations will be accepted after that time. All changes should be sent to John Rief by no later than Wednesday, October 15. If you have questions or special requests, please email John Rief at jrief1@msudenver.edu.

Tournament check-in will take place at Degree Brewpub from 7-9pm on Friday, October 17. If you are unable to join us, please feel free to email or text John Rief confirming your arrival and to let us know of any last-minute changes.

Tournament Rules

As noted above, we will follow YODL rules at this tournament including the topic strike and points of privilege procedures. We will not be using open adjudication at this tournament. If you have any questions about these rules, please do not hesitate to contact Rob Margesson at robert.margesson@du.edu. We will go over these rules at the Saturday morning briefing and topic release.

Food and Entertainment

We will be serving lunch both days of the tournament. You will be on your own for breakfast and dinner.

Lodging and Parking

The SpringHill Suites by Marriot Denver Downtown is located on our campus and you are welcome to make reservations there. We do not yet have a room rate with them but we are working on it and will let you know ASAP. In the past, they have offered us a 10-room courtesy block with the option to add more if needed. The rate for this block has historically been around $200. There are many other options for lodging both in the downtown area and surrounding suburbs. We recommend that you stay near a light rail line which will allow you to easily make your way to campus each day. We are also happy to secure parking passes for campus. Please request these in advance by emailing John Rief at jrief1@msudenver.edu.

Schedule

·       Please note that all times are MDT (Mountain Daylight Savings Time)

Friday, October 17

·       Tournament Check-In                  7-9pm                       Degree Brewpub (on our campus)

Saturday, October 18

·       Check-in                                      7-8am                        Central Classroom, Room 109

·       Drop Deadline                             8am                           Central Classroom, Room 109

·       Briefings                                      8-8:30am                   Central Classroom, Room 109

·       Round 1                                       9am                           Central and West

·       Round 2                                       11am                         Central and West

·       Lunch                                           1pm                           Central first floor hallway

·       Round 3                                       2pm                           Central and West

·       Round 4                                       4pm                           Central and West

Sunday, October 19

·       Check-in                                      7-8am                       Central Classroom, Room 109

·       Drop Deadline                             8am                           Central Classroom, Room 109

·       Briefings                                      8-8:30am                   Central Classroom, Room 109

·       Round 5                                       9am                           Central and West

·       Round 6                                       11am                         Central and West

·       Lunch                                           1pm                           Central first floor hallway

·       Sems + Nov Breakout                  2pm                           Central and West

·       Finals                                           4pm                           Central and West

We hope to see you in Denver!