Speech and debate activities began at North Dakota Agricultural College (NDAC) in 1896; by 1906, students from NDAC were debating on an intercollegiate level. The Lincoln Debate Club (later the Lincoln Forensic Society and currently Lincoln Speech and Debate Society) was formed on February 12, 1922.

Throughout the 20th century, NDSU has sponsored numerous competitive contests and community events, as well as invitational speech and debate tournaments for the high school community. In 1967, the North Dakota Delta Chapter of Pi Kappa Delta National Fraternity was established. December 2002 brought the 25th Annual NDSU Speech and Debate Invitational initiated by Dr. Robert S. Littlefield.

The NDSU Lincoln Speech and Debate team is an active member of Pi Kappa Delta, the American Forensics Association, the National Forensics Association, and the National Parliamentary Debate Association. The team competes in several tournaments annually. Students may compete in public address events, oral interpretation events, and parliamentary debate. Undergraduate students of all majors are welcome to compete.

For more information, contact Elisabeth Fricker, Head Coach of the Lincoln Speech and Debate Team, at Email Ms. Fricker.

Team website