Rollin G. Osterweis, Yale's Director of Debating and Public Speaking (back row, first from left), with the Yale Debate Team, including John Forbes Kerry, Yale '66 (back row, third from left). Manuscripts & Archives, Yale University Library.
History:
Throughout much of the history of the Yale Debate Association, the organization was led by a coach who was a full time member of the faculty. Most notably, the YDA was coached by the late Rollin Osterweis, who successfully led the team for decades. Osterweis gained notoriety during the 2004 elections, when he was credited with teaching both John Kerry and George W. Bush the finer points of debate and public speaking.
Since the early 1980’s however, the organization has been entirely student run. A student elected board is charged with managing the team’s tryout process, finances, tournament selections, and all other important decisions. However, the team still has regularly obtained the help and advice of formerly successful debaters that are still part of the Yale community at the Law or Graduate school to help guide the team. Although these coaches do not always play a direct role in the day to day operations of the team, they have played an important function in helping to develop skills and run tournaments.
Head Coach:
David Vincent Kimel is the current coach of the Yale Debate Association.
Kimel is on the PhD track in History. He graduated Summa cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University in 2005 with a BA in Classics, concentrating on Greek and Roman history. In that same year, he and his partner became the first top ranked TOTY pairing in the history of Harvard debate. (Coincidentally, he tied former YDA coach Rory Gillis for 6th place Speaker of the Year.) A two-time winner of Harvard's Coolidge Debating Prize, he served as the Chief Adjudicator at the North American Championship in 2007.
Following graduation, Kimel worked at the POSCO steel factory in Pohang, South Korea and eventually started his own business with former Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society President Scott Lichtenstein. "Imperial Publishing" provides English language material and instructional materials in debate to schools in East Asia. To date, Kimel has published a translation of Plautus' Menaechmi and several textbooks for children (such as Ancient History from Augustus to Zoroaster and The Renaissance: Or How I Learned to Stop Praying and Start Loving Naked Statues).
Assistant Coaches:
Adam Chilton is currently a student at Harvard, where he is pursuing a joint JD
and PhD in political science. Before graduate school, Adam graduated
from Yale with a BA/MA in Political Science in 2007 and spent two
years working as a management consultant for Boston Consulting Group, while taking time off to travel around the world.
As a member of the YDA, Adam became the first debater to win all three of the American Parlimentary Debate Association's annual awards: Novice of the Year, Speaker of the Year, and Team of the Year. His accomplishments include winning major APDA tournaments like Harvard, Princeton, Columbia & NYU, and achieving international success by becoming the first person to be top speaker at both the Oxford and Cambridge IV's in the same year. As high school student in Arizona, Adam was the 2003 national champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate.
Adam was President of the Yale Debate Association in 2006, during which he reorganized the executive board to focus
on long term development and financial planning.
Andrew Rohrbach works in the chambers of Judge David Tatel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He graduated in 2009 from Yale College with a degree in Philosophy and Political Science.
Andrew is the only debater in history to win the North American Championship (where he was twice second-place speaker), the National Championship (where he was top speaker), and the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA)'s Team of the Year Award. He also won the six other major APDA tournaments (e.g. Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, NYU) and has been a top-10 speaker at the World Championships.
Andrew was President of the Yale Debate Association in 2008, during which time he focused on development projects: the YDA hosted a Centennial Reunion and the first intramural tournament in a decade. He also served as President of the American Parliamentary Debate Association in 2008-09. There, Andrew initiated APDA's new-school expansion program and its first major long-range planning effort.