One of the oldest student programs at The University of Texas at Austin, the debate and forensics program was organized on October 5, 1883 as the Athenaeum Literary Society, which established as its ultimate goal the “training and developing of its members in forensics” through “the awakening of a vital interest in cultural and literary pursuits and the discussion and explanation of current problems.” By 1909, the program expanded to pursue national intercollegiate contests by joining the Delta Sigma Rho National Forensic Honorary Society. Archival records show a continuing involvement in collegiate and high school competitions since the 1920’s. 

The University of Texas at Austin was represented at the very first National Debate Tournament, held at West Point in 1947 by the team of Jack Skaggs and Barefoot Sanders.  In 1988, The University of Texas at Austin forensic program split into two separate teams: debate and individual events, sparking The University of Texas at Austin’s first involvement with the American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament (NIET). Each of these teams, debate and individual events, have continued to attend the AFA National Individual Events Tournament and the National Debate Tournament (NDT) every year since that time, hosting the NIET in 2008 and the NDT in 2009.

Participation in intercollegiate forensics at UT-Austin is made possible by support from the Moody College of Communication, the Department of Communication Studies, the College of Liberal Arts, the UT National Institute in Forensics, and the student population and Student Government of The University of Texas at Austin. Each of these groups invaluable support for Texas Debate.