Alecia Bryan

George �鶹��Ƶ’s Debate Team receives generous gift from alumnus Burton C. Gray Jr.

Katarina Benson — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:41:28 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ’s Debate Team receives generous gift from alumnus Burton C. Gray Jr. Katarina Benson Mon, 10/27/2025 - 11:41

The �鶹��Ƶ Debate Team has stood for more than five decades as one of the nation’s premier teams and is consistently ranked among the top five programs in the country. This intercollegiate team’s legacy of excellence is built on academic rigor, accessibility, and community. It is a program that transforms students—regardless of their starting point—into confident, critical thinkers prepared to lead.

Burton C. Gray Jr., BA Economics and English ’95, knows this transformation firsthand. Gray has built a career that defies linear paths. A serial entrepreneur, he has led businesses in independent music, film production, software development, and agriculture. He has also supported local ventures like DC Brau Brewing Company and has served on several nonprofit boards focused on education, health, and community initiatives.

The skills he learned on the George �鶹��Ƶ Debate Team have been a throughline in his career, he said, and he considers his experience on team as a cornerstone of his success.

Burton C. Gray Jr., BA Economics and English ’95. Photo provided

“Debate taught me how to become an expert on complex issues in a matter of hours,” Gray said. “Whether it was copyright law in the music industry or negotiating partnerships, the skills I learned in argument and analysis helped me understand how to take a stronger position and get things done.”

Gray also recalled his experience with longtime team director Warren Decker, who retired in 2022 after 48 years of teaching and service.

“Decker challenged me in a way I hadn’t been challenged before,” Gray said. “He made it clear debate wasn’t about talking a good game—debate was about committing, researching, working hard, and showing up every day. That lesson stuck with me.”

Today, the George �鶹��Ƶ Debate Team continues its tradition of success under the leadership of Jackie Poapst, who serves as the inaugural Warren Decker Director of Debate. The director position was endowed in 2022 and named in honor of Decker’s service by George �鶹��Ƶ Debate Team alum Leonard Bennett, BS Finance ’89, JD ’94.

Gray has committed to strengthening the George �鶹��Ƶ debate community with a gift of $150,000 to support Decker Grants.

“The Decker Grants enable us to recruit and support students to this critical experiential learning opportunity and to provide them with the coaching support they need to succeed,” Poapst said.

“Scholarship resources and program support really matter,” Gray said. “These funds help level the playing field for George �鶹��Ƶ students, who excel year-after-year in highly competitive environments. It’s important to show students’ commitment through community, and I’m hoping my gift demonstrates support to the assistant coaches, mentors, and students who contribute to the team’s legacy.”

Gray’s philanthropy is rooted in his desire to give back, and he encourages George �鶹��Ƶ community members and team alumni to join him in support of these talented students.

“Debate changes the way you think, the way you listen, and the way you connect with people,” he said. “As part of the George �鶹��Ƶ Debate Team, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere; you become academically fearless and intellectually formidable.”

Support from alumni like Gray is part of the university’s �鶹��Ƶ Now: Power the Possible campaign and ensures the George �鶹��Ƶ Debate Team remains nationally competitive and transformational for future leaders who are preparing to take on tomorrow’s challenges.

To join Burton C. Gray, Jr. in support of the George �鶹��Ƶ Debate Team, visit the team’s giving page online.

Topics

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Alumni

�鶹��Ƶ Now: Power the Possible

Debate Team

A relentless pursuit of excellence: 50 years of George �鶹��Ƶ’s Forensics Team

Colleen Rich — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 16:34:19 +0000

A relentless pursuit of excellence: 50 years of George �鶹��Ƶ’s Forensics Team Colleen Rich Tue, 08/27/2024 - 12:34

�鶹��Ƶ aims to provide students with a transformational learning experience that helps them grow as individuals, scholars, and professionals. George �鶹��Ƶ’s Forensics Team has been dedicated to this priority and providing opportunities for students for more than 50 years.

More than 140 team alumni gathered at Horizon Hall, traveling from 16 states and overseas, to celebrate five decades of excellence alongside current Forensics Team members. Photo by Eduardo Macedo/Office of University Branding

On Aug. 17, more than 140 team alumni gathered, traveling from 16 states and overseas, to celebrate five decades of excellence alongside current Forensics Team members.

George �鶹��Ƶ’s intercollegiate speech team has represented the university at regional and national speech competitions since the early 1970s. They compete in a wide range of events designed to persuade or move an audience through public speaking or oral interpretation of literature.

For decades, George �鶹��Ƶ has been regarded as one of the top forensics teams in the country. In 1979, the team won the American Forensic Association’s national championship. The team has placed among the top 10 programs at nationals 25 times in the past 33 years, and they have ranked second in the country for the past three years.

“Fifty years ago, a group of visionary individuals, Margaret Duffner, Bruce Manchester, and Sheryl Friedley, laid the foundation for what would become a powerhouse of talent and intellect,” said Dawn Lowry, current director of the team. “We honor their legacy and the countless contributions of students, coaches, and supporters who have carried the torch forward.”

Alumni and team members in attendance shared stories from their experience on the team: commitment to hard work, discipline, friendship, and above all—an enduring community.

At the reunion, Professor Emeritus Bruce Manchester announced a landmark gift to the Forensics Team. Photo by Eduardo Macedo/Office of University Branding.

“Looking back at my time as part of the Forensics Team, the experience prepared me for my career as a peacebuilder and conflict negotiator. I will never forget the lessons I learned, and I continue to learn every day,” said Manal Omar, BA International Studies ’96.

“Being part of the Forensics Team provided incredible formation for my personal and professional life,” said Victoria McDermott, BA Speech Communication ’90, JD ’93.

At the reunion, George �鶹��Ƶ junior Freya Hutton treated alumni and guests to a performance in Impromptu Speaking. Hutton was given a quote and 90 seconds to craft his performance, which he did while on stage with nothing more than a pencil and small note card.

The quote Hutton received—“We are stronger together as a team than any one of us has to be as an individual”—was provided by Professor Emerita Sheryl Friedley, known to the team as “Docette,” who served as assistant director for 16 years.

He tackled the assignment with ease, which is a testament to his experience and skill. Hutton, a philosophy major, is a tournament champion in Impromptu Speaking and was a national finalist in Rhetorical Criticism at the 2024 National Forensic Association’s National Tournament.

This message was repeated by both alumni and students throughout the event. “The community behind our team is strong and palpable,” said Prem Ganesan, a George �鶹��Ƶ senior studying economics. “I always have the opportunity to keep learning and to keep working toward improvement with our team.”

Ganesan exemplifies the team’s dedication to continued learning and a shared pursuit of excellence. They earned the prestigious title of National Champion in Poetry at the 2024 National Forensics Association National Tournament and secured five national titles across a variety of categories, in addition to placing as a finalist in several events.

Ganesan presented a poetry interpretation, an exploration of gender through the lens of reincarnation. Their performance was a powerful tribute to the strength of the team, the quality of their work, and dedication to this craft.

The Forensics Team celebration was accentuated by the announcement of a landmark gift to the team from Professor Emeritus Bruce Manchester and his partner of 46 years, James “Fred” Emory. This planned gift from Manchester and Emory is the largest commitment to date pledged by a George �鶹��Ƶ faculty member. Their gift will establish endowments to support the director and assistant director of forensics positions and provide lasting support to the program.

Manchester reinforced how this team has, for decades, provided strength and community to countless George �鶹��Ƶ students.

“The team was a place for people to be their authentic self and this created a positive experience that made a difference for so many,” said Nicolette Stearns, BA Speech Communication ’85, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’92.

“In addition to learning public speaking and how to craft persuasive arguments, I learned how to be a supportive team member,” Stearns added. “I brought these skills to my work in training and consulting, and I was able to teach others.”

Stearns shared that George �鶹��Ƶ Forensics became the foundation for her life, both personal and professional. Her teammates became her closest friends—they have shared life together for the past 40 years—raising kids, holding monthly dinners, and have even officiated each other’s weddings.

The outcome is clear. George �鶹��Ƶ Forensics has achieved excellence in preparing our students to thrive, cultivating their sense of curiosity, and building lasting community for generations.

Topics

Alumni

�鶹��Ƶat50

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Forensics Team

Historic gift speaks volumes about George �鶹��Ƶ’s Forensics Team

Colleen Rich — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 17:34:55 +0000

Historic gift speaks volumes about George �鶹��Ƶ’s Forensics Team Colleen Rich Fri, 08/23/2024 - 13:34

Decades of success for the �鶹��Ƶ Forensics Team are being rewarded through a landmark gift from Bruce Manchester and his partner and husband of 46 years, James “Fred” Emory. During Manchester’s tenure as director of forensics at George �鶹��Ƶ, students won more than 10,000 individual and team awards in intercollegiate competition.

This historic planned gift from Manchester and Emory is the largest commitment to date pledged by a George �鶹��Ƶ faculty member.

Professor Emeritus Bruce Manchester stands next to a photo of himself in the Horizon Hall exhibit: "Past, Present, Future: �鶹��Ƶ's Core Remains Constant." Photo by Eduardo Macedo/Office of University Branding

Their gift will establish endowments to support the nationally recognized team in perpetuity. The pledge, in the form of a future bequest, will create endowed funds to support the positions of program director and assistant director, as well as provide lasting student support to the program through an existing endowed fund. Creating endowed faculty positions helps attract the best professors in the nation to George �鶹��Ƶ to teach and lead this prestigious program.

“I could not have asked for a more rewarding career than I had at George �鶹��Ƶ. I know how incredibly valuable the forensics program is to students, and I simply want to give back as much as I can to that program,” Manchester said. “As an educator, I want to make sure that George �鶹��Ƶ students will always have the opportunity for a strong forensics education.”

Manchester arrived at George �鶹��Ƶ in 1975, a time when the young university was eager to find exemplars of success to establish its reputation and credibility. He served as the director of the forensics program from 1975 through 1993, aided by assistant director Sheryl Friedley. The named endowed faculty positions honor Manchester, the George �鶹��Ƶ team’s longest serving director, and Friedley, the team’s longest serving assistant director.

“I came here because I was fascinated by the idea of the challenge that George �鶹��Ƶ was offering,” recalls Manchester, who is now retired and living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Here was a chance to be on the ground floor in a place that didn’t even have a communication degree, and to be directly involved in developing the degree program.”

Sheryl Friedley and Bruce Manchester, holding the trophy, and the winning Forensics Team members celebrate their national championship victory in 1979. Photo provided

The previous forensics director, Margaret Duffner, who started the program, had been affectionately called “Ma” by her students, Manchester says. “So when I got there, the team decided to call me ‘Doc’ since I had a PhD and was too young to be called ‘Pa’!”

Together, Manchester and Friedley put George �鶹��Ƶ forensics in the national spotlight, winning the East Coast Championship an extraordinary 18 consecutive years. George �鶹��Ƶ finished in the national top five for 16 of those years, including winning the American Forensic Association national championship in 1979. The pair coached a total of 119 national finalists.

Remarkably, the teams achieved these results even though at least half the team members over the years had no previous forensics experience, Manchester said. “In all the years I was director, we did not have a single student on scholarship for forensics. They were just regular students—they would see our recruiting signs on campus and decide to give it a try.”

“Forensics made them better speakers, better writers. They got better at their academics, their time management,” said Manchester. “If they were willing to put in the work and grow, I was willing to work with them. And I’m very proud of what they did and were able to achieve.”

Professor Emeritus Bruce Manchester (seated) gets a standing ovation at the Forensics Program's 50th anniversary celebration. Photo by Eduardo Macedo/Office of University Branding

“Cocurricular programs such as George �鶹��Ƶ’s Forensics Team give students the opportunity to learn and collaborate across disciplines, to uncover insights and gain rich experiences that will contribute to their success after graduation,” said Ann Ardis, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “This extraordinary commitment from Manchester and Emory represents the ideals of how philanthropy can support teaching, students, and programs, to ensure support over generations.”

In the years since, the Forensics Team has continued its outstanding showings and is currently under the direction of Dawn Lowry.

After stepping down as forensics director, Manchester continued as a full-time faculty member in the Department of Communication through 2004, serving as associate chair. He was twice named Faculty Member of the Year by the �鶹��Ƶ Alumni Association and also received George �鶹��Ƶ’s David J. King Teaching Award, among other honors. The Communication Department’s student award for outstanding academic achievement is also named in his honor.

For more than 20 years, Manchester was the vice chair of the American Forensic Association’s National Speech Tournament (AFA-NST) Committee. In 2004, the association permanently renamed its annual scholarly research grant as the Dr. Bruce Manchester Scholar Series.

Many of his Forensics Team members remain in touch with Manchester to this day. “Whether you were new to the team or a four-year veteran, the expectations were the same, and you were valued the same,” Manchester said. “We had a saying: ‘The most important thing is not to win, but to struggle.’ That was a motto we lived by. I wanted my students not necessarily to win, but to struggle—both on the team, and in the classroom. And if you do, I promise you that success will come from that.”

For 50 years, the team members have had as their highest goal a top five team award at the national championship. Manchester added, “As a result, teammates learn to count on each other, to help and support each other. The strength of George �鶹��Ƶ’s Forensics Team is definitely its camaraderie.”

The gift from Manchester and Emory was announced at a reunion event marking 50 years of the forensics program at George �鶹��Ƶ, which was attended by more than 140 alumni who traveled from 16 states and overseas.

“I feel so incredibly blessed to have experienced a career path and location for my work that was so fulfilling,” Manchester said.

Help build the next era of �鶹��Ƶ

Leadership gift honors Debate Team director’s years of service

Colleen Rich — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 16:09:32 +0000

Leadership gift honors Debate Team director’s years of service Colleen Rich Fri, 06/17/2022 - 12:09

Fifty years in the making—the �鶹��Ƶ Debate Team has a legacy as a national powerhouse and at the core of their leadership is Warren Decker. During the 48 years that Decker led the team, they qualified for the national debate tournament 36 times, and for the last decade, they have ranked among the top two teams in the country.

From left, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Ann Ardis, �鶹��Ƶ Director of Debate Warren Decker, and �鶹��Ƶ alum Leonard "Len" Bennett at Decker's retirement reception. Photo provided

Decker’s building of the �鶹��Ƶ debate program took place over the same decades as the university, which celebrate its 50th Anniversary this year, itself came to prominence.

“Warren has directed and coached more debate students than any other college debate coach in the country—and changed the lives of countless students,” said College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Ann Ardis.

�鶹��Ƶ alum Leonard Bennett, BS Finance ’89, JD ’94, was part of the Debate Team in the 1980s and recently returned to the Fairfax Campus to help honor Decker’s years of service during a retirement reception earlier this spring.

Bennett’s generous gift of $1 million will provide programmatic and scholarship support for the Debate Team, as well as create the “Warren D. Decker Professorship Endowment” to support the named coaching position Warren Decker Director of Debate. This fund will enable the department to recruit and retain top talent to help ensure �鶹��Ƶ Debate’s excellence in coaching.

�鶹��Ƶ debate alum Len Bennett has been a trial attorney and consumer advocate since 1994. Photo provided

Bennett is the founding partner of Consumer Litigation Associates (CLA), a Virginia-based law firm empowering consumers nationwide to fight against predatory lending, credit discrimination, inaccurate credit reporting, identity theft, background check errors, and other consumer abuse. He has been a trial attorney and consumer advocate since 1994.

Bennett shared the magnitude of Decker’s achievement in building this debate program since the 1970s and how he has helped all students, from every background and demographic, from beginners to seasoned debaters, since his career began.

“The special skill Warren Decker has is to coach the span of debaters in this program—from the novice to the superstar—and make us all successful," said Bennett. "He taught us to be able to speak in front of and to all types of people, no matter who was in the room.”

This is a true testament to our core values at �鶹��Ƶ. And the synergy created by this diverse team is manifested through their long-standing success and national recognition.

Bennett attributes this growth and longevity directly to Decker. "When I look at our team now, I see an incredible debate program. Warren is amazing because of his continued administrative instinct. He’s kept our team funded and organized for 48 years, which is not an easy feat.”

Then and now, �鶹��Ƶ students’ experiences with the Debate Team help set them up for a lifetime of success, cultivating crucial skills and competencies that prepare them to be career-ready graduates.

“Debate developed our speaking, researching, and note-taking skills," said Bennett. "But it also built our critical thinking, analytical, and logic skills and left us with a deep understanding of public policy, economics, and law and a broad knowledge of current events. Debate taught me how to think, read and react quickly. And it prepared me for success in law school and in my career.”

Yet it was more than just the competitive success or educational growth that had an impact on the team. “Warren was an empathetic mentor who foremost always cared about the well-being and success of the hundreds of students under his leadership. He pushed us, taught us, and looked out for us.”

For Bennett, Decker, who was a professor in the Department of Communication, was a coach, mentor, and he is now honored to call him a friend. It is Bennett’s wish to ensure future generations of students will be able to benefit from this pivotal experience while also bolstering Decker’s legacy, and the team he built, to continue its placement as top in the nation.

Bennett would like his fellow debaters to remember they are all part of Decker’s legacy.

“If you’ve been part of �鶹��Ƶ Debate, every person you help, you’re extending Warren’s legacy. Everything you do is an extension of Warren and honors his service.”

Bennett hopes other �鶹��Ƶ Debate alums will join him in sharing back their experiences, with current students and each other: “Be sure to share what you’ve accomplished because of �鶹��Ƶ Debate and join me in supporting this amazing program.”

He noted that what stands out about this group is a “love of debate, each other, and �鶹��Ƶ, and this love was instilled in each of us through Warren Decker.”

Leonard Bennett was selected by the National Association of Consumer Advocates as Consumer Lawyer of the Year and led his firm to the National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyer award for top financial services plaintiffs’ firm for multiple years, as well as the Virginia State Bar’s 2019 Top Pro Bono Law Firm. Bennett has served as a board member for a number of important organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, Public Justice, the Virginia Poverty Law Center, Hampton Roads Refugee Relief, and Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads. Bennett has litigated individual and class cases throughout the country, and was peer-selected to the Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and the American College of Financial Services. CLA has locations in Newport News, Richmond, Alexandria, and Harrisonburg, Virginia. To learn more about his firm, visit www.clalegal.com.

�鶹��Ƶ Debate was founded in 1974 and has been a core program fulfilling the university’s history of excellence within research and advocacy. The team has been consistently ranked in the top five programs in the country by the Cross Examination Debate Association, the American Debate Association, and the National Debate Tournament sweepstakes championships. �鶹��Ƶ Debate is a co-curricular program housed within the Department of Communication at �鶹��Ƶ’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

To join Bennett in supporting the team, visit alumni.gmu.edu/22HSS11.