2011 Summer Faculty

2011 Summer Faculty

Ben Clancy

Ben Clancy is currently attends Trinity University in San Antonio, where he is studying English and philosophy. He has worked an assistant coach at Lake Travis and Westwood high schools, where he has helped students qualify for TFA State and advance into elimination rounds at tournaments such as Berkeley, Grapevine, Churchill, and the UT-Austin Longhorn Classic. Ben has previously served as a lab leader at the Victory Briefs Institute (Los Angeles, CA), and this summer, he will be working for the UTNIF debate camp (Austin, TX) in addition to TDC. He debated for Westwood High School (Austin, TX), where he competed in Lincoln-Douglas Debate both locally and nationally. As an LD debater, Ben qualified for TFA State three times, where he advanced to elimination rounds as a sophomore, junior, and senior. He also attended the Tournament of Champions his senior year after earning five bids at Greenhill, St. Mark’s, Emory, Victory Briefs, and Colleyville. He was also the champion of Colleyville.

Andrew Cockroft

Andrew currently studies philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. During his three years of college, he has been coaching for Dulles High School and several students at Westlake High School, where he has helped debaters reach elimination rounds of almost every major tournament in Texas, including finals of Grapevine (’09) and Churchill (’10). And one of his students reached the semifinals of TFA State (’09). He graduated from Elkins High School in the Houston area, where he debated Lincoln-Douglas for four years. Despite limited ability to travel, Andrew made the most of his opportunities in Texas, and with great self motivation, he was competitive among the top national debaters.  His hard work earned him qualification to the 2008 Tournament of Champions, where he finished as a quarterfinalist.  He earned his TOC bids as a finalist at Grapevine and a semifinalist at St. Mark’s. He also was in elimination rounds of every tournament he attended his senior year, including Memorial and the UT-Austin Longhorn Classic.  Additionally, Andrew qualified for TFA state for three consecutive years, where he cleared as second seed and finished as a quarterfinalist as a senior.

Cathy Creighton

Cathy is an undergrad at the University of Virginia and is a graduate of Southlake Carroll High School. As a debater, Cathy competed to great success on the local and national circuits. In LD, she qualified to TFA state three times, and NFL Nationals and the TOC once. She broke at TOC-qualifiying tournaments around the country, including the highly-competitive Greenhill, St. Marks, and Harvard tournaments. She was also runner-up at Colleyville and Churchill. Since graduating, Cathy has taught at two TDC camps and VBI. She also volunteers her time to work with under-served debaters at schools near the University of Virginia.

Monica Ghosh, Secretary

Monica currently studies in Plan 2 at the University of Texas at Austin. She has taught at every TDC program since the organization’s inception. She debated for four years at Westlake High School (Austin, TX). There, she was  the 2008 5A runner-up at UIL State. She was also a three-time qualifier to TFA State, finishing in octas her senior year. She won four of the five local TFA tournaments she attended in 2009, and was top speaker at the Churchill Classic (’09). She also qualified to NFL Nationals in 2006 and 2008.

Patrick Graham

Patrick is a recent graduate of Southlake Carroll High School, where he served as team captain his senior year, and is excited to begin studies at Reed College in the fall. Patrick successfully competed on both the national and local circuits: He broke at TFA State three consecutive times, reaching the semi-finals his senior year. Patrick also qualified to NFL nationals once in LD and the TOC twice. During his senior year, Patrick competed at the MBA and Harvard Round Robins, and was runner-up at the Grapevine and St. Marks tournaments.

Perry Green

Perry is entering his sophomore year at Harvard University, and currently serves as an assistant coach for Scarsdale High School (New York, NY). He debated locally and nationally for four years at Walt Whitman High School, during which he earned a total of 8 bids to the TOC. His junior year he won Manchester, was a semifinalist at Wake Forrest, bid at Harvard, and had a winning record at the TOC. His senior year he broke at the TOC, Greenhill, and Blake, and was the champion of Emory and Harvard, and Bronx.

Shane O’Neal, Office Administrator/Teaching Advisor

Shane is currently a 2010 Teach for America corps member, teaching bilingual 1st grade at an inner-city school in Houston. He is a recent graduate of the University of Texas, where he earned a BA in Government and Spanish. In high school, Shane debated for Strake Jesuit College Prep in Houston. As a debater, Shane competed successfully on both the local and national circuits, including qualifying to TFA State three times and to the TOC his senior year. As a junior and senior, Shane broke at a wide-range of national tournaments and won the competitive Churchill Classic. After graduating high school, Shane coached Winston Churchill High School and his alma mater, Strake Jesuit. Shane qualified numerous students to TFA State, including a 2010 semi-finalist and the 2010 State Champion in LD! He has qualified numerous students to NFL Nationals and the TOC, including an octo-finalist (’10). Shane brings a wealth of teaching experience to TDC—experience he has gained from working half-a-dozen debate camps, coaching multiple nationally successful debate programs, and being a full-time teacher. His recent work with 1st graders has been particularly useful in managing the behavior of rambunctious high school students at camp!

Tyler Sullivan

Tyler will be entering his freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin. He debated for four years at Salado High School, in the Austin area. He was a two-time octafinalist at TFA state and qualified to the TOC as a senior, receiving bids at St. Marks and Churchill. He also qualified twice to UIL state.

Graham Tierney

Graham is currently studying at Carleton College (Northfield, MN). He competed successfully on both the local Iowa circuit and on the national circuit in high school.

He won the Iowa Caucus tournament and was in out-rounds of major tournaments such as Greenhill, Valley, Apple Valley, Blake, and Emory. He also was invited to the MBA round robin and cleared at the TOC senior year.

Becca Traber

Becca Traber currently attends Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She currently coaches for the College Prep School in Oakland, California and her students have reached late elimination rounds at several tournaments, including finals at Meadows and winning Alta. She has coached four students to qualify for the TOC. In addition, Becca has also worked at many fine summer institutions, including Victory Briefs, NDF, and the Championship Group.  In high school, she debated for four years at the Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas and attained both local and national success. She qualified for TFA state three years and got to the finals in her senior year. In addition, on the national circuit, she qualified to the Tournament of Champions twice–in her senior year alone, she attained 8 bids. During her junior and senior years, she won Grapevine, University of Texas (twice a finalist), Houston-Memorial, Bronx, and the Berkeley tournament. And her senior year, she also reached the finals of the TOC and TFA State.