INVITATION
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
39th ANNUAL DEBATE TOURNAMENT

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, October 3-5, 2009

August 1, 2009

Dear Colleagues:

You are cordially invited to attend the Henry Clay Debates at the University of Kentucky. This year's tournament, our thirty-ninth, will be held on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, October 3-5, 2009.

FORMAT

The tournament will employ the 2009-2010 CEDA/NDT National Debate Topic.

For the SEVEN preliminary rounds, there will be a single open division.

Elimination rounds will begin with double-octofinals. (This assumes entries at or near historical levels.)

There will be a separate elimination bracket for teams composed exclusively of first-year college debaters. This elimination bracket will start at the quarter-final level. The quarter-finals in this division will be held during the double-octofinals of the general tournament.

Brackets WILL be broken in both divisions.

TABULATION

Once again, Gary Larson of Wheaton College has graciously consented to direct the tab room.

He will employ a mutually preferred judging system based on ordinal ranking of judges.

JUDGING AND JUDGING EXPECTATIONS

Following the precedents of Northwestern and Georgia State, we will require four rounds of judging per team. This means, for example, that a two team entry entails an eight round commitment, NOT a seven round commitment.

Unfortunately, we do not have judging available for hire.

As a normative guideline, we strongly request that all qualified persons attending the tournament make themselves available for at least some judging, both in the preliminary and the elimination rounds.

All judges are obligated through the OCTOFINAL debate on Monday. And, per convention, all judges are committed to judge one round past the point of their school's elimination from the tournament.

Judges are required to vote for one and only one team.

HOUSING

The tournament hotel will be the Lexington Downtown Hotel by Hilton, formerly the Radisson Plaza Hotel. Since registration will be held there on Friday night, as well as the elimination rounds on Monday, we recommend that you stay there.

They have agreed to hold a block of rooms at a special tournament rate of $104.00 per night (plus tax). You will find the hotel extensively renovated in the past year, as it has undergone the process of conversion into a Hilton. We will be one of the first groups to occupy the newly renovated hotel. You may house up to four people in a room for this rate.

The block of rooms will be held until September 11, 2009. After this date, the special group rate cannot be guaranteed.

To obtain rooms, call 877-539-1648, and ask for reservations. Be sure to mention UK Debate in order to obtain the special tournament rate. This toll free number is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to handle your reservation needs.

Parking at the Lexington Downtown Hotel by Hilton is free for overnight guests. There is an adjacent parking structure that can accommodate cars and mini-vans. For large vans and buses, there is free surface parking a couple of blocks from the hotel.

Free wireless Internet is provided by the hotel.

Last year our room block filled rapidly, so it may be advisable to call soon.

Once the block is filled, the hotel will take a waiting list. As cancellations come in, the hotel will go to the waiting list on a first-come first-served basis. They will honor the tournament rate up to Wednesday, September 30. Please note, however, that last year relatively few got in off of the waiting list. We are competing for hotel space with the horse races.

The hotel will assess one night's lodging per room for cancellations after Wednesday, September 30.

Other hotels near campus and/or downtown include:

Hyatt Regency Lexington
401 West High Street, Lexington, Kentucky
859-253-1234

Spring Hill Suites
863 South Broadway, Lexington, Kentucky
859-225-1500

Holiday Inn Express Lexington—Downtown/University
1000 Export Street, Lexington, Kentucky
859-389-6800

University Inn
1229 South Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky
859-278-6625

And for the nostalgic…

Ramada Inn
2143 North Broadway, Lexington, Kentucky
859-299-1261

FEES AND AMENITIES

We will be employing a new fee structure this year. Charges will be a flat $60 per person attending the tournament.

We plan to provide breakfast and lunch on both Saturday and Sunday, as well as some kind of a light meal on Sunday evening before the first elimination round.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Friday, October 2, 2009

7:00-10:00 p.m.: Registration and coaches' reception, Downtown Hotel by Hilton.

Pairings for (at least) the first two rounds will be available at registration.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

8:30 a.m.: Round I
11:00 a.m.: Round II
2:30 p.m.: Round III
5:00 p.m.: Round IV

Sunday, October 4, 2009

8:00 a.m.: Round V
11:30 a.m.: Round VI (powered off of the first 5 rounds)
1:15-2:15 p.m.: Tournament luncheon
3:00 p.m.: Round VII (powered off of the first 6 rounds)
5:45 p.m.: Award assembly
6:45 p.m.: Double-octo-finals in open; quarter-finals for first years

Monday, October 5, 2009

7:00 a.m.: Pairings released on mezzanine of hotel. All debates will be on the mezzanine level.
8:00 a.m.: Octo-finals in open, semi-finals for first years

All subsequent elimination rounds will follow as soon as possible.

ENTRY AND CONTACT INFORMATION

You should enter the tournament via debateresults.com.

For further information and/or assistance about the tournament, you may contact:

Roger Solt: resolt2@email.uky.edu
Jon Sharp: fnordga@gmail.com
Linda Barker: linda.barker@uky.edu
Debate Office: 859-257-6523

If you have a team eligible for the first-year elimination bracket, please send that information to Roger Solt. Also, please send us information about any other first-year debaters not eligible for this bracket; they are eligible for first-year speaker awards.

OTHER

We endorse the CEDA policy on sexual harassment.

The Henry Clay will not overlap the LSAT this year, so no special arrangements will need to be made.

We hope you can join us in Lexington, as we attempt to continue Dr. Patterson's longstanding tradition of Bluegrass hospitality.

Sincerely,

Roger Solt
Acting Co-Director of Debate
University of Kentucky

INVITATION UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY 39th ANNUAL DEBATE TOURNAMENT