Phan,+Huanvy


 * TL;DR I guess I’m progressive or whatever. Run Ks, CPs, disads, performance, narratives, theory, whatever you want. Just know that I’m not a huge fan of theory. Speed is fine, flex prep is fine, sitting is fine, just be nice to each other. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask me before the round.**


 * Long version:** Hello! I’m Huanvy (she/her/they/them) and I’m currently a freshman at Stanford. I competed in LD all four years of high school, with my last two years as a more progressive debater. I love debate a lot and tbh I never moved on when I graduated and stopped debating. I was also a HUGE fan of performative killjoy, so if you run that you’ll get hella kudos.


 * Style:**
 * **Speed**: I’m fine with speed, just start at about 75% your max speed and work up from there. If you’re going too fast, I’ll yell clear. If you’re running theory, PLEASE slow down.
 * **Flex prep**: it’s Gucci


 * Content:**
 * **Theory**: I’m not a huge fan of theory. If you run theory, I’m probably going to sigh a bit but I’ll still whip out another sheet of paper and flow it and consider it in RFD. I’ll vote on it, but only if you can prove there is clear abuse. I was not a fan of it when I competed so I am not super well-versed in it, so you will HAVE to slow down. I’m not going to vote for you just because you can spread through four shells in your 1AR.
 * **Topicality**: Same as everything I’ve said for theory. You’ll really have to prove that your opponent is being non-topical though. I’m more likely to agree that your opponent’s case is topical because I think nearly everything can be topical. Also some resolutions are just fuckin dumb and you have to reject them.
 * **Kritiks**: I love Ks. Ks are great. LD is inherently kritikal at its core. Go ham, my friends. However, you should assume I don’t know anything about the authors you’re reading so make sure you explain them to me clearly.
 * **CPs/DAs**: also fine
 * **Performance:** YES YES YES. I love performance and if done correctly, it is super interesting and valuable to the debate space. I ran performative killjoy at every tournament during my senior year, so I clearly like it.
 * **Narratives**: I also think narratives have a very important role in the debate space. However, do not run a narrative for purely strategic reasons because that’s shitty and defeats the purpose of a narrative in the first place.
 * **General**: run whatever you want but please tell me why your argument matters and explicitly lay out the impacts. I’m lazy and I don’t want to do any work during RFD. You should clearly show me why your impacts outweigh and why you win this round. I’m just tryna be tabula rasa and I’m not tryna intervene with my own opinions. If you leave any holes in the arguments, I’m forced to intervene.

A few notes on my philosophy about debate: I think debate should always be accessible. I recognize that with progressive debate, a lot of it is inaccessible and hard to understand. If your opponent is someone who is not very experienced in progressive debate, I will not be impressed if I see you overwhelming them with 400wpm spreading and obscure Ks and theory. In fact, I’ll probably give you shit speaks if you do that. That being said, you are still free to run progressive cases against inexperienced opponents – just make it accessible to them. I would much rather watch an engaging debate than a one-sided one. A good rule of thumb is to assume that I, as the judge, don’t know anything about the arguments you’re running so you will have to explicitly lay them out for me.

Additionally, debate is an activity that is very important to me. I respect it a lot and I expect you to respect it, as well. Respect the arguments you are running. One of my biggest pet peeves is when debaters run arguments for purely strategic purposes, ESPECIALLY with performance and narratives. Debate is, fundamentally, an educational activity, not a game to win the most trophies and bids.

My last note should be a given: respect your opponents. If I see any sexism, racism, transphobia, ableism, or any other discrimination, I will not hesitate to stop the round and contact your coaches. Debate should be a safe space and any form of discrimination will not be tolerated. Along these lines, just don’t be an asshole (unless you’re running a performance where you need to be an asshole).

Also, remember to have fun! Debate is so much fun and I want all of us to have fun in the round.