Remembering Scott Deatherage
The NAUDL's Executive Director, life-long educator, and our friend and colleague Larry Scott Deatherage passed away the morning of December 25, 2009. He was 47 and died of cardiac arrest.
Throughout his life, Scott believed in the ability of debate to transform the lives of students. When he joined the NAUDL as Executive Director in April 2008, he said that debate "is the single most influential learning experience I have ever [had], not only for myself but as I have watched the development of now thousands of young minds. It is time for me to think not just about a single program, but instead about what I can do to help secure debate as an institution and enterprise for generations to come."
It is with that vision that Scott led the NAUDL to bring urban debate to eight new cities and 150 new schools, serving over 1,500 students per year. Under Scott's leadership, the NAUDL launched new Urban Debate Leagues (UDLs) in Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, Oakland, St. Louis, and San Francisco. It also strengthened existing UDLs in Boston, Detroit, and Rhode Island. Because of his leadership, these institutions will continue to provide life-trajectory changing intellectual challenges to thousands upon thousands of urban students across the country for years to come.
He said of his leadership of the NAUDL: "I have been offered what I consider the opportunity - indeed the privilege - of a lifetime; the chance to help on a national level to build debate programs in the many thousands of high schools across the United States where that opportunity has not existed for a long, long time."
Scott came to the NAUDL from Northwestern University, where he was Director of the Northwestern University Debate Society and a faculty member in the Department of Communication Studies. At Northwestern, he taught countless students the power of sharp thinking, persuasive communication, and argumentation.
As the Director of the Northwestern University Debate Society since 1994, Dr. Deatherage established an unparalleled record of coaching success. His Northwestern teams won the NDT National Championship seven times since 1994. He also coached four individuals to Top Speaker awards at the National Debate Tournament. In 2007 he received the George W. Ziegelmueller National Debate Tournament Coach of the Year Award. In 2003 he was named the Pelham National Coach of the Year. He was voted the "Coach of the Decade" for the 1990s by his peers.
Scott's life, and his commitment to education and debate, came to a close all too prematurely. On the heels of this tragic loss, please join us in remembering with admiration Scott's remarkable life and work.
Scott is survived by his sister, Diana Baldwin, and by brothers Donald, Patrick, and Michael Deatherage and William Lechner. A memorial service is being planned, the details of which will be announced here. In lieu of flowers, family members ask that donations go to the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues or the Northwestern University Debate Society.
If you have any questions, please contact Eric Tucker at EricTucker@urbandebate.org or 312-771-1816.
Scott Deatherage: Life at a Glance
Education
- Ph.D., Communication Studies, Northwestern University, 1994
- M.A., Communication Studies, Baylor University, 1986
- B.B.A., Economics and Finance, Baylor University, 1984
- Doctoral Dissertation: "The Emergence of the Horse Race in Media Coverage of the New Hampshire Primary: 1932-1988.
- Masters Thesis: "The Rhetorical Dimensions of Richard M. Nixon's Political Rebirth after Watergate.
Professional Experience
- Executive Director, National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, 2008 - 2009.
- Director of Debate Society, Northwestern University, 1990 to 2008.
- Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Communication Studies, Northwestern University, 1990 to 2008.
- Director, Debate Divisions, National High School Institute, 1991 to 2008.
Major Awards
- National Debate Tournament Championships Directed: 2005, 2003, 2002, 1999, 1998, 1995, 1994
- National Debate Tournament Top Speakers Directed: 2006, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996
- National Debate Tournament Copeland Award Winners Directed: 1996, 1999, 2003, 2005
- Debate Coach of the Decade: 1990-1999
- Debate Program of the Decade: 1990-1999 and Debate Team of the Decade: 1998-99