Our Summer Staff

The Matthew Harris Ornstein Washington Summer Debate Institute is dedicated to bringing together all-star instructors for our students. Unlike most debate camps, we hold a competitive, national talent search. Also unlike most debate camps, we are look for staff members with policy debate expertise AND experience as a teacher and/or coaching to pass along their knowledge and skills. Being a highly successful competitor doesn’t automatically translate into being a good instructor, and different labs require different skillsets to teach. We value instructional experience, diversity, debate knowledge, and a team-first attitude when hiring. 
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Staff of the 8th Annual Matthew Harris Ornstein Washington Summer Debate Institute

The staff of the Ornstein Summer Debate Institute reflects the great debate community here in the D.C. area. Our staff has included a lot of flashy resume lines regarding state and national championships, (as a coach or competitor) such as the NDT, CEDA, TOC, etc. 

These accolades are impressive, but we also value the ability to build relationships with students and instructional skills. Many of our best instructors didn’t end up in break rounds of the NDT, but are strong communicators and know how to empower others. We offer a wide range of labs, ranging from middle school novices who have never seen a debate round before to folks hunting for bids to the TOC, which we value equally. Different skills are required to teach different ages and levels of experience, and we hire accordingly.

Some Fast Facts

Historically, we have averaged rough gender parity (among those who choose to identify), and have had a majority-minority staff. We’ve had 29 states represented so far!

Volunteer with an Urban Debate League
58%
Urban Debate Alumni (WUDL or elsewhere, indicated with an * below)
39%
Undergraduates (rarely rising freshmen, but some have blown us away)
42%
Graduate Students
16%
Post-graduate professionals, the majority of whom are classroom teachers or the staff of other urban debate leagues (which we love to collaborate with)
41%
Residents of the greater DMV who work with the league in some capacity year-round
64%

2023 Staff

 9th Matthew Harris Ornstein Summer Debate Institute

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Addie Lowenstein*

Yale University

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Aidan Etkin

Stoneybrook College

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Aisha Bah*

Wesleyan University

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Aisha Taylor*

Jacksonville University

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Bryce Sheffield

University of Houston

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Dr. Cathy Jones

Debate Coach, Frederick Douglass High School (MD)

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Cesar Fortuna

Debate Coach, Montgomery Village Middle School (MD)

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Clarke Dickens*

University of Pennsylvania

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Danielle Dupree*

Howard University
WUDL Staff

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David Trigaux

WUDL Staff

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Dennis Martinez*

University of Maryland

Eric Clarke*

Georgetown University / MITRE

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Jess Berenson

Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation

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Kailey Ramlal*

Temple University

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Letitia Haffner*

University of Maryland

Liv Birnstad*

Debate Coach, Social Justice School

McAlister Clabaugh

WUDL Staff

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Niko Sims

Emporia State Univesity

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Noah Joshua*

Washington Urban Debate League Coach

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Noah Smith*

TBD

Dr. Omar Price

DuVal High School

Patrick Wilborn

Debate Coach, DuVal High School

Shayla Herron

Debate Coach, Kettering Middle School

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Sheima Ben-Abdallah*

Dartmouth University

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Zach Crouch*

PHD Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University

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Zara Escobar*

Yale University

Keoni Scott-Reid Award

To commemorate the legacy of a founding member of our community and an alumni of both the Matthew Harris Ornstein Washington Summer Debate Institute and the Washington Urban Debate League, we have established the Keoni Scott-Reid Outstanding Instructor Award.

Keoni, who transitioned in 2019, was the first winner of the Matthew Harris Ornstein Outstanding Debater award. He had an illustrious competitive career, but was even more impactful as a coach and instructor, returning to the summer institute every year upon graduation and inspiring hundreds of young people. 

After consultation with peers, former competitors, coaches, family members and mentors, this award will recognize the instructor who displays the creativity, relationship building, empathy, and humor that we miss today.

A stipend will be attached to the award. This is the partner award to the Matthew Harris Ornstein Outstanding Debater Award, which recognizes the most outstanding student at each summer institute. Any member of the student body or staff may make a nomination, and all members of the staff are eligible, save for those that have already won it. 

2023: Eric Clarke

Intelligence Analyst,
MITRE
and
Debate Coach,
School Without Walls
Georgetown University '23
Columbia Heights EC '19

2022: Alexa Figueroa

University of Maryland '25
Debate Coach,
College Park Academy

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2021: Danielle Dupree

Howard University '23
Ass. Debate Coach,
Capital City PCS