Diablo Valley College Presents

The 2nd Annual The Bernacchi Invitational at DVC

Nov. 15th, 16th, 17th 2024 

Dear colleagues and friends, 

The Tony Bernacchi Invitational, hosted by the Diablo Valley College Vikings, extends a warm welcome to you for an exciting in-person forensics tournament set to take place from November 15th to 17th, 2024. This event promises top-tier competition and the chance to engage with a vibrant and inclusive community that spans the nation. NOTE: IPDA has moved to Sunday and LD has moved to Friday this year!

Named in honor of Tony Bernacchi, a beloved former coach at Diablo Valley College who touched the lives of countless students, this tournament pays tribute to his enduring legacy encouraging students not only to speak out but to listen deeply to ideas, beliefs, and concerns of others. Our tournament was previously called “The Thing” named after the assemblies of the Viking Age, where individuals gathered to express their voices.  We hope that the Tony Bernacchi Invitational will continue to serve as a modern-day platform for public debate, personal advocacy, and fostering a sense of community. For the staff and students at DVC, Tony was a coach, a teammate, a friend, a mentor, and the most evident example of the kind of truly good person that forensics can produce. We couldn’t be more excited to honor him from this year onward. 

The tournament features a 2-day swing speech and will have separate debate competitions on each day. This gives our speech-focused competitors two separate opportunities for competition, while debate focused competitors will be able to compete in NPDA, IPDA, and LD; and competitors whose focus are a combination of speech and debate have the opportunity to do both (competitors must choose between NPDA and IEs on Saturday, and between IPDA and IE’s on Sunday). 

Our tournament opens with a full day of competition in LD on Friday, followed by awards. Saturday will be Day 1 of our speech swing as well as the NPDA portion of the competition, followed by a joint award ceremony. Finally, Sunday will be Day 2 of the speech swing as well as our competition day for IPDA, followed by our final award ceremony which will acknowledge awards earned that day as well as 2- 

day swing awards. 

All Entries are due on 11/12/24 by 11:00 p.m:

Paul Villa

Co-Director of Forensics

Co-Tournament Director

Contact: p_villa@dvc.edu

Robert Hawkins

Co-Director of Forensics

Co-Tournament Director

Contact: r_hawkins@dvc.edu