Hello friends!

Minnesota State University, Mankato is pleased to invite you to the 2024 Super Schnoor, which includes the Larry Schnoor Invitational on Friday October 18th and Saturday October 19^th hosted by the Minnesota State, Mankato forensic team and the MavFAN Tournament on Sunday, October 20^th hosted by our alumni network. All rounds will take place in-person on the MSU campus. We’re happy to offer IPDA as part of the Schnoor, which will run Friday to Saturday. Please see below for tournament policies and details, including our new Extemp Speaking draw format.

Open Door Policy

MNSU is committed to providing safe performance spaces for all competitors and judges. We acknowledge the art of performance may be a healing process and/or an opportunity to speak on important, personal topics. As a performer, it is impossible to know all the ways in which content or a performance may unintentionally harm or trigger members of your audience. To better serve the wellness of the forensic community, we will be using an open door practice this weekend.

An “open door practice” means competitors and other audience members may choose to leave a round when a performance threatens their mental wellbeing, or due to physical (e.g., uncontrollable coughing, vomiting) or spiritual (e.g., Salah prayer times) needs. Competitors may discreetly leave the room (before, during, or after someone’s performance) even when not double-entered, without question or penalty. Anyone in the room may also disengage from a performance (e.g., actively dissociate, put their head down on a desk, cover their ears). Judges will be asked to read the open door policy aloud at the beginning of every round to reinforce the norm-change emphasizing mental and physical well-being over community norms.

Judges may also take steps to protect their well-being by requesting reassignment prior to rounds where they worry about the content warnings listed or taking a time between speeches to re-center before proceeding with the round.

Electronic Ballots

All judging will be completed via Speechwire. Judge contact info should be included in the registration and all judges should bring an electronic device for writing critiques and submitting ranks. Everyone may pre-register and learn more at https://live.speechwire.com/

Judge Strikes and Judge Accommodations

If a student has conflicts with judges for non-competitive reasons, please inform the tournament staff as to prevent conflicts within the tournament. Some non-competitive conflicts may include:

• The student and judge are family members/close friends
• The student was harassed/assaulted by the judge
• The student feels uncomfortable being judged by a former teammate 
• The student feels uncomfortable being judged by a former coach

We respect the privacy of these decisions, so no explanation for the conflict is required.

If tournament staff is informed a judge has participated in improper behavior, the judge will be removed from the judging pool before interacting with students. Coaches or students may contact tournament staff directly at douglas.roberts@mnsu.edu or 530-828-6123.

Gender Equity

MNSU is committed to providing a place where all competitors’, judges’, and observers’ gender identities are observed and respected. Pronoun indicators will be available at registration and in the student and judge lounges.

Tournament staff also commit to providing maps and signage to gender-neutral and single-stall restrooms to provide safe bathroom spaces. Maps will be available online at Speechwire.com, provided at registration, and in the student and judge lounges.

Name Pronunciation

MNSU recognizes the power being called by your correctly pronounced name has in creating an inclusive, welcoming, respectful space. To aid judges and award readers, please provide student name pronunciation through Speechwire. Depending upon Speechwire service availability, tournament staff will attempt to make name pronunciations available on cover ballots for judges.

Content Warnings

MNSU requests performers consider the nature of their topic; when possible, please list a content warning in the “Event Title” content box on Speechwire when registering for the tournament and list a content warning on the board when signing in to the round. At registration, each team will be asked if they entered content warnings for their students’ pieces. Content warnings will appear on schemats online and posted at the tournament.

Accessibility

MNSU recognizes not all bodies comfortably move through tournament spaces. Tournament staff worked hard to select rooms with desks where all body types may comfortably compete, observe, and judge. Rooms were prioritized so freestanding chairs were used for rounds before desk-chair combinations or similar options. When rooms do not include large seating options, the tournament staff pledges to provide chairs where everyone can feel included during the competition round.

Tournament staff also pledges to arrange rooms to create ample space for competitors and judges who use wheelchairs to move throughout competition rounds without needless obstacles. Additionally, tournament schematics will also be posted on every floor for visual accessibility. Extra schematics will also be available at the info table. Quiet rooms will also be available.

Childcare Information

Coaches and judges with children are more than welcome to utilize our childcare space during the MavFAN tournament on Sunday, which will be run by certified counselors to keep your children entertained. They will be hosted in AH 311 with a potential trip outdoors, weather permitting. 

Information Available Upon Request

Upon request, the tournament staff will have the following information:

• Procedures for Title IX violations
• Regional ICE activity
• Campus emergency procedures
• Local support service phone numbers

Information about competitive event offerings and fees are listed below. We hope you find it possible to attend! If you have questions, feel free to email Caleb Webb at caleb.webb@mnsu.edu and Vanessa Fowler at vanessa.fowler@mnsu.edu. See you then!

Competitive Event Offerings

Both tournaments will offer two preliminary rounds in one open division of all 11 NFA individual events with the addition of IPDA Debate at The Schnoor Friday to Saturday.  Please note: students may enter a maximum of THREE events per pattern. Students in IPDA  may not be entered in any other Flight A events.  Students who triple enter in a pattern are responsible for getting to all events during the scheduled time period.

Events will be offered in 2 conflict patterns:

Flight A

Impromptu

After-Dinner Speaking

Informative

Drama

Poetry

IPDA

Flight B

Extemp Speaking

Prose

Communication Analysis

Persuasion

Duo

POI

Extemp Speaking

We will continue experimenting with a new draw system for Extemp Speaking. Instead of three different questions, each speaker will receive the same set of 4 questions ranging in complexity. This will give competitors more options when selecting their topics and allow judges to directly compare speeches and answers. We believe this format will make judging more equitable overall.

Sample:

1. Who will be the next president of the Moon?
2. Can Madison Ackers convince voters to make her the next Moon president?
3. What issues will the next Moon president make a priority for 2023?
4. How can Moon leadership fight off a challenge from Mars for universal recognition?

IPDA

Resolutions will be read in-round and competitors will have 20 minutes of prep time. Internet access and warm rooms allowed.

Competitive Standards

We will follow NFA rules and codes of conduct, and request attending teams to familiarize themselves with those guidelines. 

• NFA Code of Standards, Event Descriptions, and Bylaws: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1028kLG5Dy-Y2e_veNvVupXZcxpIXmbGy/view

Schedule

Schnoor - Friday IPDA

3:30 Registration

4:00 Rd 1 Flight A Draw

4:30 Rd 1 Flight B Draw (Flight A Begins)

5:45 Rd 2 Flight A Draw

6:15 Rd 2 Flight B Draw (Flight A Begins)

7:30 Rd 3 Flight A Draw

8:00 Rd 3 Flight B Draw

Schnoor - Saturday

7:30-9 Registration

8:00 IPDA RD 4 Draw (Single Flight)

8:30 IPDA RD 4 (Single Flight)

9:15 A1 (IMP, ADS, INFO DRAMA, POE)

10:30 Ext Draw

11:00 B1 (EXT, PRO, CA, PERS, DUO, POI)

12:00 Lunch

12:30 A2, IPDA Quarters Draw

1:00 IPDA QUARTERS

1:45 Ext Draw

2:15 B2

3:30 A Finals, IPDA Sems Draw

4:00 IPDA SEMS

4:30 Ext Draw

4:45 B Finals

4:45 IPDA FINALS Draw (if multiple entered, do IE’s first)

5:15 IPDA Finals[1]

6:00 Awards

MavFAN - Sunday

7:45-8:15 Registration

8:30 Ext Draw

9:00 B1 (EXT, PRO, CA, PERS, DUO, POI)

10:15 A1 (IMP, ADS, INFO DRAMA, POE)

11:15 Lunch

11:45 Ext Draw

12:15 B2

1:30 A2

3:00 Ext Draw

3:30 B Finals

4:45 A Finals

6:15 Awards

*If possible, we will attempt to collapse finals into one flight, dependent on judges

MNSU Student Competitors

As hosts, the Minnesota State, Mankato forensic program will enter students at the Schnoor who are in their first semester of college competition.  We engage in this practice because we have plenty of experienced competitors to assist with tournament management, and have found that competing on our own campus in early fall has been an effective and nonthreatening way to introduce novices to college forensics.

Hired Judges

Our hired judge pool consists primarily of alums from our own program, other regional programs, and the Minnesota State, Mankato Communication Studies Graduate Teaching Assistants.  The graduate assistants receive a judge training session where they are informed of event descriptions and rules, as well as methods for writing effective ballots.

Wireless Internet

Minnesota State, Mankato provides free guest access to university Wi-Fi, at your own risk. We do not guarantee the reliability of wireless internet service.

Food Options

The Centennial Student Union is possibly open, but we suggest utilizing other food options (including Weggy’s, Noodles & Company, Jimmy John’s, Caribou Coffee, Chipotle, & Jonny B’s) within walking distance of campus.

Tab Room

The tab room will be run by the MNSU coaching staff and Alumni volunteers.  We will use SpeechWire to schedule and tab the tournament.

Awards

The award ceremony will be held outside - weather permitting. Trophies will be awarded to finalists in each individual event.  Additionally, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies will be awarded in both Team Sweeps and Individual Sweeps. Individual Sweeps includes all students entered in 4 events with at least one interpretation event and one Public Address or Limited Preparation event. Sweepstakes awards will be given using the following point system:  In prelims 3pts for every 1^st, 2pts for every 2^nd, and 1 pt for every 3^rd. In finals, 1^st place = 10 points, 2^nd place = 8 points, 3^rd place = 6 points, 4^th place = 4 points, 5^th place = 3 points, and 6^th place = 2 points.  Any non-advancing semi-finalists in IEs will receive 2 points.

The Larry Schnoor Invitational also includes a Team Quality Award (team sweep pts. divided by number of entries). Each year, Minnesota State, Mankato names the quality award after a distinguished individual(s) in forensics who has shaped the activity on either a regional or national scale. The designees are nominated and chosen by current students involved with the Minnesota State, Mankato forensic program.  Previous designees include:

Brian Halleen

George Armstrong

Grace Walsh

Guy Yates

Joel Hefling

Susan and Stephen Collie Mike Wartman

Mark Fokken

Kelly Jo Wright

Dan Cronn-Mills

Michael Dreher

Penni Pier

Craig Brown

Brian Klosa

Kittie Grace

Rebecca Buel

Megan Orcholski

Karen Morris

Sade Barfield

Ben Walker

David Brennan

Andrea Carlisle

Leah White

Julie Walker

Chris Outzen

(vr24)