The Panel, as a member of the American Parliamentary Debate Association, participates in weekly intercollegiate parliamentary debate tournaments across the country. Parliamentary Debate is an extemporaneous, off-topic form of debate which emphasizes analysis, argumentation, rhetoric, and breadth of knowledge over extensive research and preparation of evidence. With a different topic to debate each round, parliamentary debate pits two-member teams from Princeton against other debaters from colleges and universities across the nation.

Princeton sends debaters to weekly tournaments from Boston to California, as well as tournaments in Canada, Ireland, S. Africa, Greece, the Philippines, and Australia. Novice debaters have the opportunity to attend as many tournaments as they wish. Entry fees and transportation are covered by the Panel and no novice debater will ever be prevented from participating due to inexperience. First year members are welcome to attend as many tournaments as our most experienced debaters, since the Panel philosophy is that one learns best to debate from hands-on, tournament experience. If interested in joining the team check out our Membership Page.

The Princeton Debate Panel is the most successful debate organization in the nation. The Panel is consistently home to the top-ranked debaters in the nation. The winners of the American Parliamentary Debate Association's Speaker of the Year award from '94-'95, '95-'96, '96-'97, '97-'98, '99-'00, '01-'02 and '08-'09 were all members of the Panel. In addition, in 2009, Princeton took home the award for Team of the Year. Over the past five years, Princeton has had teams in the final round of the North American Debate Championship, the finals of the National Championship, and the Quarterfinals of the World Championship in Cork, Ireland. Princeton has also qualified more teams in the past few years for the National Championship than any other school--including an unprecedented number of freshman teams.

At regular tournaments, Princeton typically walks away with top speaker and team awards. Princeton's all-freshman teams have also consistently outperformed other all-freshman teams; many have broken into final rounds or received team or speaker awards. At the 2008 National Championships, Princeton made up half of the teams breaking to semifinals, with one team advancing to finals. Princeton also has a strong history of freshman performance featuring three of the last ten Novice of the Year award winners and has had at least one individual in the top ten nearly every year. Finally, in 2008 Princeton won the first ever Club of the Year award for best overall team.

The Panel is the most successful debate team in the country due largely to our unique education program. Debate at Princeton is an undergraduate-run activity; we have no coaches or faculty advisors. Novices are taught how to debate not by a professor or faculty member, but by the most successful debaters in the world. Peer education is a cornerstone of the Panel education policy.

Novice education is a comprehensive one-semester program which teaches the basics of parliamentary debate and public speaking. Taught by current Panel members, education sessions are held once a week. Each novice debater will have the opportunity to debate with an experienced Panel member at a minimum of one regular tournament during the year. In addition, a one-day, in-house novice tournament will enable new debaters to compete against and learn from each other. After the first semester of novice education, debaters graduate to advanced education sessions, in which all members of the team participate.

However, Princeton believes that the best education is actual competitive experience. For this reason, we encourage new debaters to attend as many regular tournaments as they would like during the year.

The Panel also hosts two debate tournaments a year: a high school debate tournament and the Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Parliamentary Debate and Speech Tournament--one of the largest and most prestigious tournaments of the year. In 1995, Princeton hosted the week-long, 250-team XV World Debating Championship--the largest and most international parliamentary debate tournament in history. With competitors from over 25 nations in attendance, the event received coverage in the New York Times and other major media outlets.

The Panel also participates in Whig-Clio campus Senate debates, and the traditional Triangular Debate competition against Harvard and Yale. Furthermore, the majority of the winners of on-campus prize debates sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Honorary Debate Society come from the Panel.