Harold Cox Invitational at Wilkes University

Registration	General information	Schematics	Files for download	Tournament schedule	Fees	Registration handbook

General information

This is a College tournament in Pennsylvania.

View manager contact information

Dear Coaches,

Christine Mellon has invited your team to the Harold Cox Invitational Tournament at Wilkes University on January 31 and February 1, 2025, in Wilkes-Barre, PA.  If you have any questions about this invitation, please contact me at christine.mellon@wilkes.edu.  Read through this email to see how to accept the invitation, submit entries online, and learn more about the tournament from the manager.

The Wilkes University Collegiate Forensics Tournament will complete registration and tabulation on Speechwire.com.  

HOW TO SUBMIT ENTRIES......

1.  LOG IN TO YOUR SPEECHWIRE ACCOUNT at http://www.Speechwire.com and click on the "Your account" tab at the top of the screen.
2.  Submit your email address and password.
3.  Click on the "Tournament Registration" icon and then click on ...Wilkes University Invitational Forensics Tournament to submit your entries.

If you have trouble...email Speechwire account support at accounts@speechwire.com

Please review the invitation for the tournament schedule and more details.

Hope to see you in February.

Christine Mellon

Wilkes University     
Office of Communication Studies

THE WILKES UNIVERSITY

HAROLD COX INVITATIONAL FORENSICS TOURNAMENT

January 31 and February 1, 2025
Wilkes-Barre, PA

Dear Coaches, Teams, and Friends:

We are delighted to invite you to Wilkes-Barre, PA, for The Wilkes University Harold Cox Invitational Forensics Tournament on Friday and Saturday, January 31 and February 1, 2025.  We are looking forward to offering an organized and timely event.

This tournament will be using Speechwire.com  for registration.  We will also feature 11 I.E. and 2 Debate CFA sanctioned events, if registration allows, with two preliminary rounds of individual events followed by finals which will include the top six competitors in each category. The debate competition will include 3 rounds of both Parliamentary and Lincoln-Douglas Debate at non-competing times and a final round, if entries warrant it, based on number of schools, time restraints, competitor schedules, and distribution of entries.  The event field for LD Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Bracket A events will be very tight, so please ask your students to limit their registration to what can be realistically accomplished within the time constraints. We want to do our best to offer these events but still keep the tournament on time.

The Wilkes University Harold Cox Invitational Forensics Tournament is in conjunction with CFA and each team’s points will count toward the Welch-Strine Trophy and each person’s scores will count toward CFA’s end-of-year individual awards.

For directions to our campus, please use the following address for MapQuest or GPS systems……….    84 West South St., Wilkes-Barre, PA  18766. Parking will be available in all of our campus lots for free after 3 pm on Friday afternoon.  The most convenient lot is behind the Wilkes Student Center on South St., between South Franklin St. and River St.  If you need more specific directions or earlier access, please contact me and I can make arrangements.

Should you have any questions, please call me at 570-408-4210 or email me at Christine.mellon@wilkes.edu.  My team and I look forward to hosting you this winter.

Sincerely,
Dr. Christine Mellon, Director of Forensics, Wilkes University

FRIDAY, January 31st

Registration                                                      2:00 pm  Breiseth Hall Lobby

LD Debate – Round One                                  3:00 pm

PARLI Debate Round One                                4:15 pm

PARLI Debate Round Two                                5:30 pm

PARLI Debate Round Three                             6:45 pm (time and judges permitting)

SATURDAY, February 1^st                        SLC 105

Breakfast                                                          7:30 am

LD Debate Round Two                                     7:45 am 

Extemp Draw                                                    8:15 am

Bracket 1A                                                       8:45 am – 10:00 am

Bracket 1B                                                       10:00 am – 11:15 am

LD Debate Round Three                                   11:15 am

Extemp Draw                                                    12:30 pm

Bracket 2A                                                       1:00 pm – 2:15 pm

Bracket 2B                                                       2:15 pm – 3:30 pm

Extemp Draw                                                    3:30 pm

Finals A                                                            4:00 pm

Finals B                                                            5:15 pm

Awards                                                             7:00 pm  SLC 101/105

Brackets: 

A – Extemp, Persuasion, Duo, Prose, CA, Declamation

B – Imp, ADS, DI, Poetry, Info

Schedule is Subject to Change

Registration Fees and Dates

• Each school may enter only 5 contestants per event.
• Each student may enter up to three events per bracket including LD Debate.  A student may enter two duos with different partners.
• No more than five Parliamentary Debate teams per school.
• No more than five L-D debaters per school.
• This tournament is held in conjunction with the Collegiate Forensics Association.  However, no CFA dues will be collected at this event.
• All entries need to be emailed to Christine Mellon or submitted on Speechwire  by 5 pm, EST, on Friday, January 24th , 2025!
• Email:  Christine.mellon@wilkes.edu
• Fees:

$8 per slot

$10 per uncovered IE judging slot (1 judge covers 7 slots)

$30 per uncovered judge for Parliamentary debate team & L-D debater (1 judge covers two debate slots)

$10 per change after entry deadline

$15 per slot change at registration

$50 per dropped IE judge

$100 per dropped debate judge

• Checks can be made payable to Wilkes University
   

REGISTRATION WILL BE CONDUCTED AND FEES COLLECTED ONCE THE TOURNAMENT IS UNDERWAY.

GENERAL RULES

1. Competitors must be undergraduate students at a college or university and may not hold a baccalaureate degree.
2. No material may have been used by the student in competition prior to the 2022-2023 academic year.
3. All literature for interpretation must be presented from manuscripts.  Time limits include an introduction and/or transitional remarks delivered from memory, which include the author(s), title(s), and any exposition and cultural significance necessary to set the scene.
4. Visual aids are permitted in all events.
5. Minimal notes are permitted for memorized presentation of public address events.
6. This tournament will use the NFA Lincoln Douglas debate topic.  The tournament will also adhere to the NFA rules and judging paradigms.  Refer to the NFA website for further details.

Scoring and Awards

1. Awards will be given to the top six students in each IE event based on the results of the final round.  Each member of a duo will receive an award.
2. Sweepstakes will be awarded to the top six schools.
3. Pentathlon Awards will be given to the top six individual  students:

1.  Students must enter at least 5 events with representation from one of the three genres (oral interpretation, limited prep, and public address). LD debate counts as either limited prep or public address.  Parli counts as limited prep.  Only one duo can count for Pentathlon award.

4. The top six Parliamentary debate teams and speakers will also receive awards.
5. The top six teams in L-D debate will also receive awards.
6.  

The Tournament Director reserves the right to make changes to the tournament schedule, scoring and award procedures if the number of schools and student does not reach competitive entry.
 

Wilkes University Entry Form  -- Individual Events

Email to:  Christine.mellon@wilkes.edu by Friday, January 24th at 5 pm!

School ___________________________________________________________

JUDGES:

1. ___________________________  2. __________________________________

3___________________________     4.  __________________________________

__________ Number of event slots at $8.00        $ __________________________

__________ Uncovered judges at $10                 $ __________________________

TOTAL                                                                $ __________________________

Entry Form for Debate

Team _____________________________________________________

Parliamentary Debate:

1.  _______________________  and _______________________
2. _______________________   and ________________________
3.  _______________________  and _______________________
4. _______________________   and ________________________
5. _______________________   and ________________________

L-D Debate:

1. __________________________                _______________
2. __________________________                 _______________
3. __________________________                 _______________
4. __________________________                 ________________
5. __________________________                _________________

Judges:

1. __________________________________
2. __________________________________
3. __________________________________
4. __________________________________

__________ Number of event slots at $8.00        $ __________________________

__________ Uncovered judges at $30.00            $ __________________________

TOTAL                                                              $ __________________________

Manager contact information

Christine Mellon
Email address: christine.mellon@wilkes.edu
Phone number: 5709265580

Mailing address

110 Overview Court
Drums, PA 18222