Professional Organizations
• Member of the Western States Communication Association
• Gillespie serves on the finance committee for the National Parliamentary Debate Association.
• Gillespie is a founder and serves on the executive council of the Northwest Intercollegiate Debate League

Web Page Development
• Gillespie created NU's first student activity web page when the Eagle Debate page was posted in 1999.
• He also posted the first web page for any major at Northwest the spring of 2003 – the Communication Major web page.
• Gillespie designed Northwest’s web page to post student work when Stratagem: Anthology of Communication Studies was launched in May of 2002. This page features best speeches and papers of students.
• He designed the Eagle Debate Research page and the World Debate Research page with extensive links to sources for student research.
He designed and edits the Headwaters: Insight on Native Ethnography.

Hosted International and Public Debates on Campus
Professor Gillespie organized the following public debates held before audiences of 50 to 150. Most are covered by the local media.

•  Irish National Debate Team for debates at the Kirkland City Hall, Microsoft PAC and on campus. April 9, 2008
• Public debate with Harvard, Portland State and Seattle University, September 26, 2008
• Alumni Debate on Creationism in the schools with guest speaker form the Discovery Institute April 14, 2007 on campus.
•  Oxford University Student body president and chair of the Oxford Debating Society for three debates at the Redmond and Kirkland City Halls and the Microsoft PAC January 4 and 5, 2007.
•  British National Debating Team vs. Northwest University, September 20, 2004. Topics included the election and the war in Iraq.
•  Chapel Debates. Almost each year the Eagle Debate team presented public debates on for the student body. Topics included the presidential election, capital punishment (twice), cloning, effects of television, and the Harry Potter books.
•  Program wins a $750 grant from the International Debate Education Association for a chapel debate on international aspects of the presidential election in September of 2004.
• Puget Sound Home School Debate League district tournament, November 29, 2003. Thirty students from the area gathered for six rounds of debate on the topic of US policy concerning protectorate nations.
• Alumni vs. Students debate, September 11, 2003. Topic: “The USA Patriot Act has gone too far.”
• Irish National Debate Team vs. Northwest College, April 2, 2003. Topic: “Forget France.”
• University of British Columbia Debating Society vs. Northwest College, September 19, 2002. Topic: “This house would hold food manufacturers responsible for the obesity epidemic.”
• Puget Sound Home-school Debate League regional tournament on December 2, 2001. 70 high school students took part and our students judged. The topic for the debates throughout the day was agricultural policy.
• University of British Columbia Debating Society vs. Northwest College, September 14, 2000. Topic: This house would make British Columbia part of the United States.
• British National Debating Team vs. Northwest College, November 4, 1999. Topic: This house would admit China into the World Trade Organization.

Debate Coaching Achievements

•  Fourth Place Oregon State University World Style Debate, February 14, 2009
• Fourth Place Hawaii Pacific University Pan Pacific Championships, October 18, 2008
• Second place at end of the tournament at Mt Hood College April 2007. Only institution with two teams in final four.
•  Seven students attend international tournaments at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and the World Championships at the University of British Columbia in November and December, 2006.
• The Northwest debate team ranks in the top 13 percent of the nation in 2004 among the 357 colleges and universities in the National Parliamentary Debate Association.
• 2006 Team captain Jordan Goddard Harvard Law School graduate.
• 2004 Team captain Jon King was ranked as the 15th best speaker out of 624 at the 2004 national tournament.
• 2002 Team captain Josh Brittingham UCLA Law School graduate.
• The team placed tenth in the nation in 2000.
• Gillespie has third longest tenure of all debate coaches in the five northwest states.
• The Eagle Debate team made final rounds at NPDA national tournament from 1996 to 2006.
• Debate Superior award for highest ranking program at the Tournament of the Great West after earning 25 trophies in debate and speech at Seattle University, March 2004.
• One team won first place at the International Forensics Association tournament in Vancouver, Canada in March, 2003.
• Northwest debaters competed at the Great Alaska Speakout in 1998, 2000 and 2002. This tournament seeks to bring together the top ten teams in the nation for a round robin at the University of Alaska, Anchorage in September. Northwest College wins third place in 2002.
• First place at the Willamette University Championship in 1999, competing against 57 top rated teams.

• First place for two years in a row at the large Portland Community College tournament in 1999 and 2000.
• First place and third place consecutively each year at the Linfield College debate tournament from 1996 to 2000.
• United Stated Debate Team. In March of 2000, James Stewart was chosen to represent the United States in a series of debates in Europe. After a national search he became one of two in the nation chosen for the trip.

• At the England and Wales National Tournament in London in 2000, Stewart and his partner qualified for finals -- defeating all six teams from Oxford University.
• Northwest College debaters have competed at tournaments internationally, including the World Universities Debating Championships in Athens, Sydney and Glasgow.
• In Athens, Greece one student was the only American to make finals in public speaking -- traditionally those who place in this event are considered the best speakers in the world.

• Northwest College debaters have taken top awards, including first place in 2000, at the University of British Columbia Pacific Cup for the last several years. This tournament brings together the top debate teams from western Canada.
• In the fall of 2003, he started the Northwest College Debating Society for students who are interested in debating current issues but don’t want to compete. 10- to 12 students meet weekly.
• In the fall of 2001, he initiated the home school debate outreach program that uses our students as coaches for home school debate clubs in the area. More than 25 homeschoolers benefit each week.

• Gillespie was elected by his peers the Northwest Representative for the National Parliamentary Debate Association for 2002 -- 2003.

Successful Students and Graduates

• Gideon Copple, (NU graduate May 2006) is now an Analyst for the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. He formerly served as intern with the United Nations Association Internship program, a highly competitive position normally reserved for law school students or graduates from well known universities.The internship is with the American NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court (AMICC), an organization under the auspices of the United Nations Association of the United States (UNA-USA). The internship takes place at the UNA-USA offices in the heart of Manhattan, New York, one block from United Nations Headquarters. More at AMICC's website

• Jordan Goddard, a senior Interdisciplinary Studies major at Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington, graduated from Harvard University Law School the fall of 2008.

Goddard was elected the Northwest University Debate Team Captain for 2005 -- 2006. He volunteered as coach of a home school debate club for high school aged students once a week. His final  year he has won many debate awards this semester including making final rounds at Clackamas College and Willamette University debate tournaments.

Jordan scored in the top two percent on the LSAT law school admissions test.  He joins another Northwest alumnus Josh Davies who is in his third year at Harvard Law School.  

Josh Brittingham, a 2000 graduate, was elected debate team captain. He was selected to be the student commencement speaker. He applied and was accepted to attend Notre Dame Law School and UCLA Law School and attributes much of his success to skills learned as a debate.  He is now practicing law in Los Angeles.  Josh serves are President of our Eagle Debate Alumni Association. More here.

•Christina (Reasner) Gard, a 2004 graduate also an outs standing debater. At one tournament she was advised to apply for the Oxford University Honors program. Last year she was one of 25 top American college students, the only one from a non-Ivy League school, accepted into the Oxford University Honors Program in England. This program is similar to the Rhodes Scholar program but designed for undergraduates.

Immediately after her Oxford course work, Reasner was chosen to participate in the WINS Emerging Leaders program in Washington, DC. She was one of a handful chosen out of a pool of 5,000 applicants. For four months, she worked as a Legislative Analyst for the Planning and Evaluation sector of the Department of Health and Human Services. The program is sponsored by the US government and American University. Christina worked full time, attended night classes, and socialized with VIPs.

She was chosen to be the student speaker for the 2004 Commencement ceremonies.

She was a finalist in the Miss American Scholarship Contest in Atlanta, Georgia in September 2004. She is now pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology.

• Roger Altizer, a 1997 graduate, spent three years teaching English with the JET program in Japan, then applied and was accepted in doctoral program in Communication at the University of Utah the fall of 2003. Roger was our top debater for two years. Roger completed his Master's program where he served as an assistant debate coach.  He is now pursuing a PhD at the University of Utah and is a nationally known expert in internet communication and video games.

• James Stewart, a 2000 graduate of Northwest now serves on the faculty of Bethany University in Scotts Valley, California as Assistant Professor of Communication. He founded Bethany's first debate team which he coaches. 

In 2000 he was was chosen after a national search to be one of two for the US debate team that toured Europe in March. For three years he was one of the best debaters in the region. He was the only American to make final in Impromptu Speaking at the World Universities Debating Championships held in Athens, Greece in 1998. Stewart is now pursuing a Masters degree in English at Western Washington University where he serves as an editor of the Bellingham Review, a literary journal.

•Jacob Witt, a 1999 graduate, went on to earn a Master degree in Communication from the University of Northern Iowa. After three years teaching English with the JET program in Japan, Jacob and is now planning another Master's degree. Jacob was debate team captain for three years and won more than 40 awards in speech and debate.

• Autumn (Donnell) Witt, a 2000 graduate, earned a PhD program in teaching English as a Second Language at the University of Northern Arizona in 2008.

• Megan Brinkman, a 2001 graduate, was elected debate team captain. She was selected to be the student commencement speaker. She earned a Master of Education at the University of Washington and desires to be a high school debate coach.

Program Development
Working with colleagues designed the Communication Major with three concentrations – in drama, film studies and organizational communication. We researched 25 other similar programs across the country and have revised it twice since launched in 2000. The major has attracted more than 65 students.

Personal
Gillespie lives near campus with his wife Teresa, an attorney and Dean of the Northwest University Graduate School of Business and Management. Interests include gardening, fitness, hiking, fishing, conservative politics and creative writing.

Gary Gillespie

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