Cornhusker Forensics Summer Institute

COUNSELORS

Camp Director Dr. Aaron Duncan

Aaron is the Director of Speech & Debate for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  He is a 12 time Nebraska State Champion and a former collegiate national finalist in Extemporaneous, Impromptu, After Dinner, and Original Oratory.  Under his leadership the UNL Speech and Debate team has advanced more than 100 events to out rounds at national tournaments, won seven consecutive Big Ten Conference Tournament titles, and produced four individual national champions.

Matt Davis – Director of Public Address

Matt is the former head speech coach at Lincoln East High School.  He has coached 17 state championship teams, 160 state finalists (including 66 champs), and 170 national qualifiers (including more than 30 to outrounds).  He has coached students to finals at Harvard, Stanford, Marshall (MN), Apple Valley (MN), Glenbrooks (IL) and other prestigious national tournaments, as well as the Extemporaneous Tournament of Champions, National Speech & Debate Association National Tournament, National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament, and the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions.

Craig Brown – Director of Extemporaneous Speaking

Craig is the Director of Individual Events at Kansas State University.   During his time as director he has coached three individual national champions in extemporaneous speaking.  Craig is chair of the Extemporaneous Question Writing Committee and Co-Chair of the Extemporaneous Preparation Room for the American Forensics Association's National Individual Events Tournament.     

Dr. Allison Bonander – Director of Interpretation

Allison is the Associate Director of Speech & Debate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  She is a former national finalist in prose interpretation, duo, interpretation, and informative speaking.  During her time at the University of Alabama and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln she has coached numerous national outrounders and multiple national champions. 

Dr. Justin Krik - Director of Debate

Dr. Justin W. Kirk is the current director of debate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Kirk coached teams at the University of Texas-Dallas, the University of Kansas, and Pepperdine University before coaching at Nebraska. He has 20 years intercollegiate debate coaching experience, including 12 years of NDT/CEDA debate, 6 years of NFA-LD debate, and one year of Worlds debate. In 2023, Dr. Kirk was named LD coach of the year by the LD Coaches Association. Since his arrival, the Cornhusker Speech and Debate team has won an individual LD championship (2023) and two LD team championships (2022-2023). Dr. Kirk is committed to growing debate in Nebraska by building a intercollegiate team that helps to grow the activity statewide and gives back through coaching, judging, and supporting high school debate.

Zach Thornhill - Assistant Director of Debate

Zach Thornhill is the Assistant Director of Debate for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was part of the coaching staff in 2023 when the team won its second team national championship. He also assisted Nicholas Wallenburg in winning an individual National Championship the same year. This came after spending two years coaching at Illinois State University where he led the program to its best sweepstakes finish in school history in 2021. Zach was also the Head Lincoln Douglas coach for Lincoln Southwest High School from 2019-2023. While coaching at Southwest, he coached 5 NSDA national qualifiers including the first one in LSW history to ever clear to elimination rounds. As a competitor at Lee’s Summit West High School, Zach was a two time NSDA qualifier in policy debate. He then attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he competed in NFA-LD for 4 years, clearing to elimination rounds at the NFA national tournament. His senior year, Zach was recognized as a Debater of Distinction, which recognized 4 of the top seniors in NFA. His coaching style emphasizes argument generation and overall round strategy that is informed by his time in policy debates.

UNL Forensics Team

Members of the University of Nebraska Speech & Debate Team will also serve as counselors for the camp. UNL Debate won back-to-back National Championships in Lincoln Douglas debate in 2022 and 2023. The UNL Speech Team has been consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally for twenty years.   In recent years UNL has produced national champions in Extemporaneous Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, Informative Speaking, Program Oral Interpretation, and Prose Interpretation.