An award a long time in the making, this represents a decade with Washington Urban Debate for Eric, starting as a debater (sometimes the only one) from Columbia Heights Education Campus in 2016. 

He went on to debate for Georgetown University, WUDL’s first college debater. He stepped back from competition, the first debater with a good excuse to do so, according to Georgetown Coach Brandon Kelley, as he doubled down on studying Mandarin and focusing on his degree in International Relations. 

Eric has coached since he graduated, starting the Capital Hill Montessori team and leading them to some notable success before taking over the School Without Walls team. Since then, he’s built a juggernaut of consistently successful teams, year in and year out, and worked at summer camp each year, where he was recognized as the Keoni Scott-Reid Instructor of the Year at the Matthew Harris Ornstein Summer Debate Institute in 2023.

His students have won lots of awards, qualifying to nationals four years in a row, even after he went back to school for his Master’s Degree. Beyond the awards, his students have done innovative research, such as Gibson / Abiy’s recent work on Ethiopian politics. He regularly provides strategic advise as a member of the Advisory Board, and serves as one of our judge trainers. Regardless of the need, Eric is a go-to resource for WUDL, a pillar of the community.