NRCDL National Retired Communities Debate League
Phyliss Jerome, in a red jacket, speaks at a wooden podium beside the silver championship trophy.

Your mind doesn't retire.

Debate gives it somewhere to grow.

We help senior living communities and senior organizations start debate teams, with coaching from college debaters and a curriculum built for beginners.

Bring the league to your community See how it works

Phyliss Jerome, 96, speaking in the first official NRCDL debate, Nov. 12, 2025

About the league

The National Retired Communities Debate League brings older adults and college students together for dialogue and deliberation on the issues that matter.

Working with senior living communities and senior organizations, we provide coaching and a ready-to-use curriculum, and host public events, including a national championship at Wake Forest University, to build critical thinking, civil discourse, and connection across generations.

College students and older adults laughing together in an auditorium audience.
Students and residents share a laugh in the audience at the league's first official debate.

How it started

The league began with a question. After Wake Forest won the 2023 National Debate Tournament, Stormie Bruce, then director of life enrichment at Salemtowne Retirement Community in Winston-Salem, shared the news with residents and asked, "Debate, anybody?"

She brought the idea to Dr. Jarrod Atchison, Wake Forest's John Kevin Medica Director of Debate, who enlisted Dr. Allan Louden, an emeritus professor of communication and the debate program's longtime former director. Wake Forest debaters staged a demonstration, and a small group of residents decided to try it. Their first question was one Wake Forest's Philomathesian Literary Society argued in 1875: Is an increase in knowledge an increase in happiness?

The Salemtowne Debate Society grew from there, coached by Wake Forest students. After seven internal debates at Salemtowne, the residents wanted to test their skills against other seniors. Joy Hinshaw, life enrichment director for Abbotswood at Irving Park in Greensboro, recruited residents to form the Abbotswood Debate Society, and Wake Forest students coached them in preparation for the first official NRCDL event. On Nov. 12, 2025, Salemtowne met Abbotswood on the Wake Forest campus before an audience of more than 200.

Now the NRCDL is going national, recruiting senior living communities and senior organizations across the country to join.

Mae Dingley, Dr. Allan Louden, Cole Wolfe, and Dr. Jarrod Atchison smile from the front row of the audience.
Wake Forest student coach Mae Dingley, Dr. Allan Louden, Wake Forest student coach Cole Wolfe, and Dr. Jarrod Atchison.

Get involved

Any senior living community or senior organization can start a team, and no debate experience is needed. Many of our debaters had never debated before joining. To bring the league to your community, contact Dr. Jarrod Atchison, executive director.

Email Dr. Atchison

Or write to info@nrcdl.org

How a league debate works

Debates are conversational, respectful, and built for people who have never stood at a podium. Here is what a season looks like for a new team.

  1. Form a team

    Residents sign up. Curiosity is the only requirement.

  2. Learn with a coach

    College students serving as NRCDL Fellows work with your team, using lessons on building arguments, finding evidence, and asking good questions.

  3. Prepare your side

    A coin flip decides which side each team argues. Then comes the research, which many debaters say is the best part.

  4. Debate before an audience

    Teams give opening speeches, question each other, and close with rebuttals, at an even, unhurried pace.

What your community receives

  • CoachingThe NRCDL will connect your facility with college students trained as NRCDL Fellows to coach residents.
  • A ready-to-use curriculumA video lesson series and materials your activities staff can use without any debate background.
  • Public debatesPublic events within senior organizations and opportunities to debate other senior organizations.
  • A national championshipAll NRCDL members are invited to a national championship held each spring at Wake Forest University.
Student coach Cole Wolfe shakes hands with Abbotswood debater Gerald Parker, who holds a blue folder.
Student coach Cole Wolfe congratulates Abbotswood debater Gerald Parker on a great debate.

Questions our debaters have taken on so far…

  • Is an increase in knowledge an increase in happiness?
  • Should college athletes be paid for their name, image, and likeness?
  • Is marriage obsolete?
  • Does the U.S. economy require data centers?
  • Is artificial intelligence beneficial for humanity?
  • Should we eliminate the Second Amendment?

The Louden Championship Trophy

The league's championship trophy honors Dr. Allan Louden, who retired from Wake Forest after 45 years on the faculty, including three decades as director of debate.

Dr. Louden joined the effort when Salemtowne first raised the idea of a debate society. He helped coach its first teams and was instrumental in founding the league. Naming the trophy for him honors a career spent building programs and expanding debate opportunities.

The trophy travels. Each year's champion holds it until the next championship, and the plates on its base record every winning community.

Dr. Allan Louden, smiling and holding a cane, stands beside the large silver championship trophy.
Dr. Allan Louden with the trophy that bears his name.

Member communities

Member communities form teams, hold debates for their residents, and compete for the Louden Trophy.

Founding members

The two communities that met in the league's first official debate on Nov. 12, 2025.

Salemtowne

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Home of the Salemtowne Debate Society, where the league began.

Abbotswood at Irving Park

Greensboro, North Carolina

Formed its first team to take on Salemtowne in the league's inaugural debate.

The Salemtowne Debate Society on stage: Fred Kahl, Perry Craven (standing at the microphone), Marianne Meyer, Barbara Gormsen, and Michael Boing.
The Salemtowne Debate Society at the league's first official debate. Left to right: Fred Kahl, Perry Craven, Marianne Meyer, Barbara Gormsen, and Michael Boing.

In their words

It has taught me to truly listen, and before I respond, I confirm with the person what I heard them saying.

Karl YenaSalemtowne Debate Society

We pick a topic, and you have to research it. And I haven't really done that since I retired.

Barbara GormsenSalemtowne Debate Society

I had never done any debating in my life. … And it's been a lot of fun.

Frank LordSalemtowne Debate Society

In the news

From the first league debate

Wide view of the stage, with both teams seated at tables on either side of a podium and a projected magazine article behind. A debater in a pink cardigan and pearls speaks at the podium. A debater stands with a microphone to question the other team while teammates listen. A debater in a dark suit reads from his notes at the podium beside the trophy. View from the audience of a debater at the podium, with her team seated behind her. An audience member in a black hat rests her chin on her hands, listening intently.

Staff

Executive Director
Dr. Jarrod Atchison
Program Administrator
Anne Rudert
Grants Officer
Kayce Swift
Recruitment Chair
Dr. Allan Louden
Marketing and Social Media
Elizabeth Davis
Impact Assessment Manager
Dr. Marina Krcmar
Research Assistant
Cole Wolfe

Bring the league to your community

Whether you lead activities at a senior living community or senior organization, or you're someone who wants to debate, we'd love to hear from you. Dr. Jarrod Atchison, executive director, will help you get a team started.

Email the league