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VBI
In our second "Faculty Focus" of the year we're taking a closer look at another one of our first year instructors, Michael O'Krent. This spring he will graduate from the Harvard-Westlake School, in Los Angeles, CA. Michael has attended VBI for a total of 15 weeks over the past four summers, making 2014 his fifth year at VBI.
Catherine Tarsney is a senior at the University of Chicago, where she is majoring in Public Policy. She is currently a seasonal associate at 270 Strategies, and has worked as a Neighborhood Team Leader and Fall Fellow for Obama for America. She graduated from St. Louis Park HIgh School in 2010, where she qualified four times to the TOC, won it as a senior, and was the champion of multiple national circuit tournament. She is currently an assistant coach at the Hockaday School in Texas. She attended VBI as a student before her sophomore, junior, and senior years, and has taught at VBI as an instructor every summer since then.
In our second "Faculty Focus" of the year we're taking a closer look at another one of our first year instructors, Michael O'Krent. This spring he will graduate from the Harvard-Westlake School, in Los Angeles, CA. Michael has attended VBI for a total of 15 weeks over the past four summers, making 2014 his fifth year at VBI.
Catherine Tarsney is a senior at the University of Chicago, where she is majoring in Public Policy. She is currently a seasonal associate at 270 Strategies, and has worked as a Neighborhood Team Leader and Fall Fellow for Obama for America. She graduated from St. Louis Park HIgh School in 2010, where she qualified four times to the TOC, won it as a senior, and was the champion of multiple national circuit tournament. She is currently an assistant coach at the Hockaday School in Texas. She attended VBI as a student before her sophomore, junior, and senior years, and has taught at VBI as an instructor every summer since then.
Catherine Tarsney is a senior at the University of Chicago, where she is majoring in Public Policy. She is currently a seasonal associate at 270 Strategies, and has worked as a Neighborhood Team Leader and Fall Fellow for Obama for America. She graduated from St. Louis Park HIgh School in 2010, where she qualified four times to the TOC, won it as a senior, and was the champion of multiple national circuit tournament. She is currently an assistant coach at the Hockaday School in Texas. She attended VBI as a student before her sophomore, junior, and senior years, and has taught at VBI as an instructor every summer since then.
“The mentor program is the best part of camp so far. It really differentiates VBI from other debate camps I have been to.” – Shania Hunt (2013 Greenhill Champion)
In keeping with the spirit of the season, we have some exciting news to share.
The Mentor Program has been a popular staple of the VBI top-lab curriculum for nearly a decade. The program assigns students a personal mentor who works with them to ensure they are getting the most out of the curriculum, and provides individualized drilling and guidance during the course of camp.
This summer we have decided to expand the mentor program dramatically. We are excited to announce that at VBI 2015, everyone gets a mentor!
With our improved 4:1 teacher-student ratio (the best in the country) we will be able to offer the incredible benefits of our time-tested mentor program to every student who attends any session of VBI this summer.
“I learned more about philosophy in one week here than what I've learned about it during two years of debate.” —Danny DeBoisVBI is the best camp in the country for learning philosophical approaches to Lincoln-Douglas debate. We have the only debate camp whose instructors have published in peer-reviewed philosophy journals—including an article on teaching philosophy through LD—and have studied at the graduate level at the top four philosophy departments in the world.
Alumni of our Chicago institute have greatly enjoyed and benefited from its core philosophy curriculum, directed by PhD candidates Christian Tarsney and Nick Tourville. This year, we are extending the philosophy core to all sessions of VBI! Students will learn philosophy in an integrated series of small seminars. Seminars will focus on philosophical skills, political philosophy, normative ethics, and metaethics. We will also offer electives on other areas of philosophy.
Our third week in Los Angeles will also continue our tradition of allowing students to focus on one or two aspects of debate, including philosophy. Alumni of the philosophy focus week include Marshall Thompson (below), Danny DeBois (TOC champion), and Josh Roberts (NFL champion). This year, students will choose a Major and a Minor field of study. This program combines the best elements of our traditional Focus Weeks and last year's "Victory Briefs University" structure.
Our 2015 philosophy seminars will be designed and taught by:
Ben Holguin, PhD candidate at New York University. Ben specializes in philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. He was a three-time alumnus of VBI and won Valley, Blake, and the Mineapple twice. He has coached debaters to win St. Mark's, VBT, and the Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin. Ben graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. and M.S. in Symbolic Systems. 
Jake Nebel, BPhil candidate at the University of Oxford. Jake has published work on rule consequentialism, status quo bias, and jurisprudence. He has coached debaters to win the TOC, NDCA, TFA, Emory, the Harvard Round Robin, and many other tournaments. As a debater, he won Greenhill twice, Glenbrooks twice, Harvard, Bronx, and Emory, along with several round robins, and was top speaker at the TOC. 
Christian Tarsney, PhD candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park. Christian thinks about value, time, identity, and rational decision-making. He coached the 2010 TOC champion and the runner-up of the 2013 TOC and NFL championships. He now coaches at WDM Valley. 
Marshall Thompson, philosophy major at Wheaton College. As a debater, Marshall specialized in philosophically oriented case positions, in particular nuanced application of Kantian and Social Contract theories. He won the Greenhill and Bronx invitationals and the Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin. He is president of his college's Philosophy Club and is a VBI Philosophy Focus Week alumnus. 
Nick Tourville, PhD candidate at Rutgers University. Nick's research interests are in ethics, epistemology, and logic. As a senior at St. Louis Park, Nick was the bid leader to the TOC. He coached, along with Christian Tarsney, the 2010 TOC champion. Nick also debated policy for the University of Minnesota.
At all sessions of VBI, students will have the opportunity to attend guest lectures by philosophers throughout camp. Most of our Guest Lecturers will be professors at nearby universities. Here are just a few of our Guest Lecturers; more will be announced in the coming months:
Ryan Davis, Assistant Professor at Brigham Young University. His graduate studies were at Princeton and Harvard. He has worked on the ethics of political participation, global distributive justice, and the value of autonomy. He has published in The Journal of Value Inquiry, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Teaching Philosophy, Political Studies, among other journals. Professor Davis will be a Guest Lecturer at VBI Chicago and will help us design our philosophy curriculum over the next few months.
Peter van Elswyk, PhD candidate at Rutgers University. Peter works on philosophy of language, formal semantics, metaphysics, and philosophy of science. He has published in Philosophical Studies and Teaching Philosophy and is the Managing Editor of Oxford Studies in Metaphysics. He coached the 2010 National Champion and taught at VBI for over five summers. Peter will be a Guest Lecturer at VBI Swarthmore. 
Brian Leiter is the Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the Center for Law, Philosophy, and Human Values at the UChicago Law School. Professor Leiter has published highly influential work on such topics as Nietzsche's critique of morality, American legal realism, social epistemology, and freedom of religion. Professor Leiter will be a Guest Lecturer at VBI Chicago. 
Bart Schultz is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at UChicago.He serves on the Editorial Board of Utilitas, the leading professional journal of utilitarian studies. He has designed courses on Philosophy and Public Education, The Philosophy of Poverty, John Dewey, The Chicago School of Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Environmental Philosophy, and Happiness. Professor Schultz will be a Guest Lecturer at VBI Chicago. Apply now to learn from the best at VBI.
We understand that, for many families, the cost of debate camp is prohibitive. Victory Briefs is committed to doing everything we can to make camp a reality for as many students as possible. That's why over the last 14 years we have granted hundreds of thousands of dollars in need-based financial aid. To apply for financial aid at VBI, please fill out the form below. Please note that the availability of financial aid is limited: we cannot guarantee, in advance, that we can meet every applicant's level of need.
Five times as many students have already signed up this year compared to this time last year. We are also capping each session to guarantee a 4:1 student-instructor ratio—the best offered by any camp. So, space will be limited.
We are proud to announce our first wave of hires for VBI 2015. These hires only represent a small fraction of our likely staff. While many others have tentatively indicated they will attend, we will not advertise staff until they have actually agreed.
These instructors will be at VBI, many at multiple locations. We will announce firm commitments to specific locations as they come in.
Please stay tuned for more staff announcements in the next few weeks! Adam Tomasi -- 2013 & 2014 TOC elimination round participantAkhil Gandra -- Champion of St. Mark's, Grapevine and UTAnne-Marie Hwang -- Greenhill, Valley, and Minneapple Round Robin ParticipantArjun Tambe -- 2014 TOC elimination round participant, champion of the Grenhill Round Robin and DamusBen Holguin -- Two-time Minneapple Champion, graduate student at NYU Carlos Taylor -- Champion of the Mid-America Cup Chetan Hertzig (curriculum director) -- Coach at Harrison (NY), coached 2014 TOC Champion Chris Theis (co-director) -- 2008 & 2009 TOC Champion, Coach of Apple Valley (MN) and Peninsula (CA) Christian Tarsney (curriculum director) -- Coach of the 2010 TOC champion and 2013 TOC and NSDA (NFL) Nationals runner-up, coach at Valley (IA) Danny DeBois -- 2014 TOC Champion, coach at Harvard-Westlake (CA) Jackson Lallas -- Runner-up at 2014 GlenbrooksJake Nebel (co-director) -- Coach of the 2013 TOC champion, two-time champion of Greenhill and Glenbrooks Lawrence Zhou -- 2014 NSDA (NFL) National ChampionLeah Shapiro -- Top seed of the 2013 TOC, Champion of the Mid-America Cup and the Hockaday Round RobinMichael Bogaty -- Champion of the 2014 Minneapple Nick Smith -- Coach at Hopkins (MN) Rebecca Gelfer -- 2014 TOC elimination round participant, Champion of the Minneapple Round Robin Rebecca Kuang -- 2013 TOC Champion, coach at Clements (TX) and Greenhill (TX)Shania Hunt -- 2013 Greenhill Champion, coach at Norhtland (TX) and Harvard-Westlake (CA)
Since 2001, the Victory Briefs Institute has been the premier summer debate workshop in the country. In that time, over 5,000 students have attended VBI and those students have achieved an unprecedented level of success in LD debate.In twelve years, VBI has produced 10 NSDA (NFL) champions, 10 TOC champions , 9 NCFL champions, and countless state tournament and invitational champions. In 2014, all 8 TOC quarterfinalists were VBI alumni. No other summer institute comes close. Our experience and proven record of success explains why debaters, coaches, and entire programs continue to trust VBI.This year, we are taking our proven formula for success and applying it to three different locations: Swarthmore College (PA), Occidental College (CA), and the University of Chicago (IL).In the past there has been a Main Session of VBI in Los Angeles, and occasionally additional sessions elsewhere aimed at a younger or more regional audience. However, in 2015, VBI will be doing things a little bit differently. When and where you can go to camp will not affect your ability to get the best experience possible. This year, there is no “real VBI” and “VBI lite.” Although we will have three different locations, there will be one VBI.
The VBI curriculum works at every level and on every circuit. That’s why our program has produced as many NSDA champions as TOC champions. At every session of VBI students will have access to:
While each session of VBI will offer the same core experience there will, of course, be some differences between locations that are relevant in making a decision about which session to attend. In the coming weeks we will be posting “deep dives” into each session, to give you a more complete picture of what VBI will look like this summer. In the meantime, here are some factors to keep in mind: 1. DatesThe most obvious difference between our sessions this year is the dates.Our sessions span eight weeks this summer and do not overlap, so no matter what your summer plans are, there will be some session of VBI that fits your schedule.Beyond scheduling conflicts, the different date options can also be useful to those who want a break from debate either immediately after the end of the season or before the start of the new school year. 2. Campus environment If scheduling conflicts are not an issue for you, you should think about which campus you’d like to spend your summer at! Camp also offers an excellent opportunity to test out different types of college environments before deciding where to apply.Would you prefer a small liberal arts college in the Northeast? Then Swarthmore is the session for you. Located 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia, Swarthmore is considered one of the “little Ivies,” and is ranked as one of the best liberal arts schools in the nation. The entire campus is officially a protected arboretum!Looking for beautiful weather and a Southern California atmosphere? Our session at Occidental will continue the legacy of VBI Los Angeles. Located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, Occidental’s beautiful campus has been featured in countless movies and TV shows. Also, in keeping with our LA tradition of offering the best debate camp food around, Occidental has the 8th best college food in America, according to the Daily Meal.Interested in learning in an interesting (and safe) urban environment? Located in Chicago’s historic Hyde Park neighborhood, the longtime home of President Barack Obama, the University of Chicago is the #4 ranked university in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report, and offers top 15 dorm facilities according to the Princeton Review. More VBI alumni and staff go on to study at the University of Chicago than any other school, so if you are interested in applying camp is a great way to see what living on campus would be like. 3. Third-week options Our Los Angeles and Chicago locations both offer third week options. So, if you are interested in staying an extra week choose the session with the third week curriculum that best fits your needs.Traditionally, our Los Angeles third week has offered a number of elective “focuses,” allowing students to go in-depth on skills and concepts they believe they need to work on the most. In the last few years, elective options have included drilling and skills-based options, philosophical tracks, a variety of theory issues, and more.The third week in Chicago will be a “topic prep week.” The September/October 2015 topic will be released on August 15th; from then on, the camp curriculum will be focused on preparing students to compete with that topic once the school year begins. Students will walk away from Chicago’s third week with a leg up on their peers to start the season. Regardless of which session you attend, your VBI experience will equally rewarding. So, just choose the location you think is the right fit for you. All sessions will have capped enrollment; click here to reserve your spot. We look forward to welcoming you to the VBI family!
VBI Swarthmore: June 28–July 11 at Swarthmore College, PA
VBI Los Angeles: July 12–25, with third week July 26–August 1, at Occidental College, CA
VBI Chicago: August 2–15, with topic prep week August 15–22, at the University of Chicago, IL
VBI has a proven record of success. Over 5000 students have attended VBI since 2001, and our alumni have won more major tournaments than students from any other camp . At the 2014 TOC, all eight quarterfinalists were VBI alumni. No other camp comes close. VBI Alumni have won:
But we are always striving to improve. This summer will be the best VBI ever, and here are three (of the many) reasons why:
As always, we will have the best staff in the country. We will post staff announcements as they are confirmed. Unlike other camps, we will not advertise instructors until they have actually committed to teaching with us. For last year’s staff, click HERE.Those are benefits you’ll enjoy at any session of VBI. We are offering eight weeks of camp this summer. How should you choose which sessions to attend?
The two most straightforward considerations for choosing a VBI session are dates and location. Is the best time for you to attend camp late June/early July (Swarthmore), mid/late July (Los Angeles), or August (Chicago)? Would you prefer to go to camp in the Northeast, in Southern California, or in the Midwest?
VBI offers sessions a three amazing locations across the country, from the idyllic small town of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, to the hustle and bustle of Chicago, to the beaches and palm trees of Los Angeles. Our 2015 sessions will be hosted by some of the best universities in the nation, Swarthmore College, Occidental College, and the University of Chicago. The quality of life at our 2015 locations are better than any other camp.
But there are many other considerations to keep in mind.Summer camp is an excellent way to check out colleges. If you might apply to Swarthmore College (“Swat”), Occidental College (“Oxy"), or the University of Chicago (“UChicago”), many college advisors that it can help your application to demonstrate interest in a school by visiting it. You’ll be living in the same dorms, eating in the same dining halls, and learning in the same classrooms as you would as an undergraduate. This can help you figure out where you really want to go. You can also use the days before or after VBI to visit colleges in the area.
It’s also worth considering the unique curricular options at each camp. Students who attend VBI Los Angeles can stay for a smaller third week program. Typically, the third week is where things “click” for many of our students. In previous years, the curriculum for third week has included an intense drill-based workshop, a focus track during which students can concentrate on one major aspect of debate, and a university-style course system. On the last day of VBI Chicago, the September/October debate topic will be released. Many of our students and instructors will stay for a topic prep week to get an edge on the resolution with the best debaters and coaches in the country.
Victory Briefs is happy to announce our dates and locations for the summer of 2015!This year we will be hosting sessions at three locations and offering a total of eight weeks of high-level instruction. Please stay tuned for staff and curriculum announcements.Registration will open soon and you will be able to find more info at vbidebate.com as it becomes available.
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
June 28 - July 11
Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA
Two-week option: July 12 - 25
Three-week option: July 12 - August 1
The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Two-week option: August 2 - 15
Sept/Oct Topic Prep week: August 15 - August 22
Neil Conrad is a law clerk for a federal judge, and recently graduated from the University of Chicago Law School with a J.D. He graduated from Tulane University in 2008 with a B.A. in Political Science, Economics, and International Development. In high school, he debated for the Texas Military Institute, where he won, among other things, the Greenhill Round Robin. He is an assistant coach for the Greenhill School, and has coached multiple TOC qualifiers and tournament champions. He attended VBI in the summers of 2002 and 2003 as a student, and returned as an instructor every year between 2004 and 2010.
Tara Norris is a second year law student at Harvard Law School. She graduated from UCLA in 2011 with a B.A. in political science and government, and has interned at the ACLU as well as working as a Legal Assistant at the Lanier Law Firm. She has previously coached at the Harvard Westlake School in California. In high school, she debated for four years at Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego. She taught at VBI during the summers of 2008, 2009, and 2010.
Todd Liipfert is a finance associate at The Executive Centre, and currently works in operations and expansion in Hong Kong. He graduated from Georgetown University in 2012 with a BA in Political Science and Government, where he was president of the Delta Phi Epsilon Professional Foreign Service Fraternity. He has worked as an assistant coach for Walt Whitman in Maryland and Strake Jesuit in Texas. In high school, he debated for four years at Strake Jesuit and was the champion of the 2008 NFL National Tournament. He attended VBI as a student for three years from 2005-2007, and returned as an instructor every year from 2008-2011.
Noah Star is a sophomore studying political science at Northwestern University. He graduated from Lexington High School in 2012, where he debated for three years. He attended the Victory Briefs Institute the summer before his senior year, during which he won, among other tournaments, the Greenhill Fall Classic, the New York City Invitational, the Dukes and Bailey Award, and the 2012 Tournament of Champions. He coached the TOC Champion in 2013 and now works with his alma mater.
Today we’re featuring a faculty focus on Christian Tarsney, a long-time VBI instructor and an assistant coach at St. Louis Park High School in Minnesota.
VBI's faculty over the past three years has included seven graduate students in philosophy: five from the top four philosophy departments in the world, five coaches of TOC/NFL National Champions, authors of seven published articles in professional journals, two Marshall Scholars, and one doctorate in Political Philosophy from Princeton University. Last summer, four VBI instructors co-authored an article, “Teaching Philosophy through Lincoln-Douglas Debate,” which has been published in the journal Teaching Philosophy. This expertise makes a difference, because graduate students have more in-depth knowledge of the field, and many have experience in teaching philosophy at a college level.
Today we're featuring a faculty focus on Charlotte Lawrence, one of the great first year out instructors VBI has hired for VBI 2014. She attended VBI last summer for 3 weeks, and is graduating from the College Prep School this year.
Ben Sprung-Keyser is a junior at Harvard College, majoring in economics. He graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School in 2011, where he competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate starting in elementary school. As a high school debater, he won the Voices and Greenhill Round Robins, cleared at multiple bid tournaments, and was the 2010 National Forensics League National Champion. He attended the Victory Briefs Institute the summers after his sophomore and junior years, and worked at VBI in 2011 as an instructor. He most recently won the 2014 World Universities Debating Championship held in Chennai, India.
