Copeland Award
Copeland Award for Top First Round At-Large Team
On September 21, 1989 the life of Rex Copeland was brought to a sudden and tragic close. With its end Samford University lost an outstanding student, the forensic community lost an excellent debater and his many friends were deprived of the friendship and love of a fine individual person. Rex initiated his commitment to competitive debate during his years at Huffman High School in Birmingham. Each year saw ever greater growth, success and recognition. Indeed, by the conclusion of his junior collegiate season at Samford (1988-1989) there was no question that he had established himself as one of the finest debaters in the entire country. No doubt his senior year would have witnessed a distinguished culmination to an outstanding career. Many of us knew how much he eagerly anticipated it.
Word of his tragic death first reached many of the forensic community at the Northern Iowa University Tournament. That event, and many others subsequently conducted, were all marked by a sense of acute professional, and even greater personal, loss. For Rex was seen a respected foe and valued friend by many students and coaches alike on “the circuit.”
It is in recognition of those rare professional and personal qualities which Rex offered that Samford University together with his parents determined to endow a permanent award in his name. Therefore, with the agreement of the NDT Board of Trustees and the NDT National Committee, the Rex Copeland Memorial Award will be presented annually to the collegiate debate team ranked “Number One” in the First Round, At-Large team selections. A perpetual plaque will also be established and engraved with the names of all past recipients.
“Rex’s legacy is his joy of life, his good nature and warm personality make us forever remember him. Family and friends brought him happiness. Debate competition brought him honor among his peers.
“Few will have known Rex in a few years except through this Memorial Award. To those lucky enough to remember him, his love of life should be what we think of when his name is mentioned. To those who never knew him, know that his happiness came not from single-minded pursuits, but from a balance of hard work and play. Life is too short to forget those people and events that truly make a difference.
“The glory of humankind is to be well remembered. This award is for the few who achieve one of the highest honors in the debate community, so that they too will be well remembered.”
TOP FIRST ROUND TEAMS (Prior to establishing the Copeland Award)
1973
1st: Georgetown University – Stewart Jay & Bradley Ziff
1974
1st: Harvard University – Charles Garvin & Greg Rosenbaum
1975
1st: Georgetown University – Thomas Rollins & Bradley Ziff
1976
1st: Augustana College (Ill.) – Robert Feldhake & Richard Godfrey
1977
1st: Georgetown University – David Ottoson & John Walker
1978
1st: Georgetown University – David Ottoson & Tom Rollins
1979
1st: Northwestern University – Chris Wonnell & Susan Winkler
1980
1st: Georgetown University – James Kirkland & John Thompson
1981
1st: Dartmouth College – Cy Smith & Mark Weinhardt
1982
1st: University of Kansas – Mark Gidley & Zack Grant
1983
1st: Samford University – Melonie Gardner & Erik Walker
1984
1st: Dartmouth College – Leonard Gail & Mark Koulogeorge
1985
1st: Claremont McKenna College – David Bloom & Greg Mastel
1986
1st: University of Massachusetts – Dan Povinelli & Mark Friedman
1987
1st: Baylor University – Griffin Vincent & Lyn Robbins
1988
1st: Northwestern University – Ben Attias & Gordon Mitchell
1989
1st: Baylor University – Martin Loeber & Daniel Plants
COPELAND AWARD ESTABLISHED
1990
1st: Harvard University – David Coale & Alex Lennon
1991
1st: University of Redlands – Roger Cole and Marc Rubenstein
1992
1st: Dartmouth College – Kenny Agran & Ara Lovette
1993
1st: Dartmouth College Ara Lovitt & Steven Sklaver
1994
1st: University of Kentucky – Paul Skiermont & Jason Patil
1995
1st: Wake Forest University – John Hughes & Adrienne Brovero
1996
1st: Northwestern University – Sean McCaffity and Mason Miller
1997
1st: University of Michigan – Scott Hessell and Corey Stoughton
1998
1st: Emory University – George Kouros and Anjan Sahni
1999
1st: Northwestern University – Michael Gottlieb & Ryan Sparacino
Beginning in 2000 the top five teams were recognized
2000
1st: University of Iowa – Kristen Langwell & Andy Ryan
2nd: Emory University – Kamal Ghali & Stephen Bailey
3rd: Emory University – Larry Heftman & Jeff McNabb
4th: Michigan State University – Steve Donald & Aaron Monick
5th: University of Kansas – Mike Eber & Grant McKeehan
2001
1st: University of California, Berkeley – Randy Luskey & Dan Shalmon
2nd: Wake Forest University – Wesley Lotz & Jarrod Atchison
3rd: University of Iowa – Andy Ryan and Andy Peterson
4th: Dartmouth College – Alex Burger & Adam Garen
5th: Emory University – Kamal Ghali & Stephen Bailey
2002
1st: Dartmouth College – Alex Berger & Ben Thorpe
2nd: Northwestern University – Jacob Foster & Jonathan Paul
3rd: Michigan State University – Austin Carson & Calum Matheson
4th: University of California, Berkeley – Stacy Nathan & Dan Shalmon
5th: Whitman University – Thad Blank & Charles Olney
2003
1st: Northwestern University – Geoff Garen & Tristen Morales
2nd: Emory University – Josh Lynn & Scott Phillips
3rd: University of California, Berkeley – Stacy Nathan & Dan Shalmon
4th: Michigan State University – Greta Stahl & David Strauss
5th: Whitman College – Thad Blank & Charles Olney
2004
1st: University of California, Berkeley – Dan Shalmon & Tejinder Singh
2nd: Michigan State University – Greta Stahl & David Strauss
3rd: Emory University -Casey Wolmer & Scott Phillips
4th: Harvard University – Michael Klinger & Elliot Tarloff
5th: University of Georgia – Naveen Ramachandrappa & H. Watson
2005
1st: Northwestern University – Tristen Morales & Josh Branson
2nd: Harvard University – Michael Klinger & Elliott Tarloff
3rd: University of California, Berkeley – Stacey Nathan & Craig Wickersham
4th: Michigan State University – Aaron Hardy & Shaun Vanhorn
5th: University of California, Berkeley – Gaurav Reddy & Reid Shannon)
2006
1st: Harvard University – Michael Klinger & Nikhil Mirchandani
2nd: University of California, Berkeley – Michael Burshteyn & Craig Wickersham
3rd: Michigan State University – Ryan Burke & Casey Harrigan
4th: Northwestern University – Noah Chestnut & Josh Branson
5th: Dartmouth College – Kathryn Clark & Brian Smith
2007
1st: University of Georgia – Brent Culpepper & Kevin Rabinowitz
2nd: University of Oklahoma – Conor Cleary & Blake Johnson
3rd: University of Kansas – Brett Bricker & Andrew Jennings
4th: Dartmouth College – Karthryn Clark & Kade Olsen
5th: Wayne State University – Gabe Murillo & Andy Timmons
2008
1st: University of California, Berkeley – Michael Burshteyn & Jacob Polin
2nd: Emory University – Julie Hoehn & Stephen Weil
3rd: Harvard University – Eli Anders & Jason Murray
4th: Dartmouth College – Josh Kernoff & Hade Olsen
5th: University of Kansas – Brett Bricker & Andrew Jennings
2009
1st: Northwestern University -Matt Fisher & John Ward
2nd: University of Kansas – Brett Bricker & Nate Johnson
3rd: Wake Forest University – Seth Gannon & Alex Lamballe
4th: University of California, Berkeley – Michael Burshteyn & Jacob Polin
5th: Emory University – Nicholas Miller & Chipp Schwab
2010
1st: Emory University – Ovais Inamullah & Stephen Weil
2nd: Northwestern University – Matt Fisher & Stephanie Spies
3rd: Michigan State University – Carly Wunderlich & Eric Lanning
4th: Harvard University – Eli Jacobs & Alex Parkinson
5th: Whitman College – Nate Cohn & Daniel Straus
2011
1st: Emory University – Ovais Inamullah & Stephen Weil
2nd: Harvard Univeristy – Eli Jacobs & Alex Parkinson
3rd: Northwestern University – Matt Fisher & Stephanie Spies
4th: University of California, Berkeley – Kathy Bowen & Jacob Polin
5th: Oklahoma University – Nick Watts & R. J. Giglio
2012
1st: Northwestern University – Ryan Beiermeister and Layne Kirshon
2nd: Georgetown University – Andrew Arsht & Andrew Markoff
3rd: Loyola Marymount University – Jack Ewing & James Mollison
4th: Gonzaga University – Leah Moczulski & Paul Kanellopoulos
5th: University of Kansas – Patrick Kennedy & Sean Kennedy
2013
1st: Georgetown University – Andrew Arsht & Andrew Markoff
2nd: Northwestern University – Peyton Lee and Arjun Vellayappan
3rd: Harvard University – Bradley Bolman & Michael Suo
4th: Wake Forest University – Joe LeDuc and Ian Miller
5th: Mary Washington University – Colin McElhinny & Patrick McCleary
2014
1st: Northwestern University – Alex Miles & Arjun Vellayappan
2nd: Harvard University – Bradley Bolman & Michael Suo
3rd: Georgetown University – Andrew Arsht & Andrew Markoff
4th: University of Michigan – Ellis Allen & Alex Pappas
5th: Rutgers University, Newark – Elijah Smith and Christopher Randall
2015
1st: Northwestern University – Alex Miles & Arjun Vellayappan
2nd: University of Michigan – Ellis Allen & Alex Pappas
3rd: Harvard University – Bradley Bolman & Michael Suo
4th: Harvard University – Anna Dimitrijevic & David Herman
5th: Emory University – Viveth Karthikeyan & Jason Sigalos
2016
1st: Harvard University – David Herman & Hemanth Sanjeev
2nd: University of Michigan – Joe Krakoff & Will Morgan
3rd: Emory University – Viveth Karthikeyan & Jason Sigalos
4th: Michigan State University – Marge Strong & Tyler Thur
5th: Wake Forest University – Charles Athanasopoulos & Corinne Sugino
2017
1st: Harvard University – Ayush Midha & Hemanth Sanjeev
2nd: Georgetown University – Natalie Knez & Ezra Louvis
3rd: University of California, Berkeley – Srinidhi Muppalla & John Spurlock
4th: Wake Forest University – Charles Athanasopoulos & Corinne Sugino
5th: University of California, Berkeley – Miles Gray & Michael Wimsatt
2018
1st: University of Kansas – Will Katz & Quaram Robinson
2nd: Harvard University – Ayush Midha & Hemanth Sanjeev
3rd: University of Nevada, Las Vegas – Matt Gomez & Jeffrey Horn
4th: Wake Forest University – Charles Athanasopoulos & D.J. Williams
5th: University of Kentucky – Dan Bannister & Anthony Trufanov
2019
1st: University of Kentucky – Dan Bannister & Anthony Trufanov
2nd: Harvard University – John Cooper & Ayush Midha
3rd: University of Georgia – Swapnil Agrawal & Advait Ramanan
4th: Emory University – Alex Gazmararian & Zahir Shaikh
2020
1st: University of California, Berkeley – Nathan Fleming & Miles Gray
2nd: Emory University – Eugenia Giampetruzzi & Zahir Shaikh
3rd: Northwestern University – Gabriel Jankovsky & Joe Weideman
4th: University of California, Berkeley – Nishad Neelakandan & Rahul Ramesh
5th: University of Kansas – Azja Butler & Kenny Delph
2021
1st: Dartmouth College – Raam Tambe & Tyler Vergho
2nd: University of Michigan – Rafael Pierry & Giorgio Rabbini
3rd: Emory University – Eugenia Giampetruzzi & Grace Kessler
4th: University of Kansas – Nate Martin & Graham Revare
5th: Northwestern University – Nina Fridman & Timothy Wegener
2022
1st: University of Michigan – Rafael Pierry & Giorgio Rabbini
2nd: Northwestern University – Akash Deo & Nina Fridman
3rd: Emory University – Eugenia Giampetruzzi & Grace Kessler
4th: University of Southern California – Julian Kuffour & Kevin Sun
5th: Harvard University – Aden Barton & Julian Habermann
2023
1st: University of Michigan – Kelly Phil & Rafael Pierry
2nd: Emory University – Eugenia Giampetruzzi & Grace Kessler
3rd: Wake Forest University – Tajaih Robinson & Iyana Trotman
4th: Dartmouth College – Arvind Shankar & Tyler Vergho
5th: Wake Forest University – Ana Bittner & Ari Davidson