CNDI Staff
Carol Shackelford
Camp Director
Carol has been the director of the CNDI for more than 10 years and has extensive experience as a coach, educator, and administrator. When she was a coach for Bingham High School, her team won 10 state titles. As an educator, she teaches AP Government & AP Comparative Government and has worked as an advisor for the student government program. As an administrator, she is the chair of her department, has directed countless tournaments, and has served in a variety of leadership roles for schools and debate camps.
Mike Shackelford
Rowland Hall St. Marks
In his years of coaching at Rowland Hall, Mike has qualified numerous teams to the TOC, including three quarterfinalists and a semi-finalists. His teams have received bids at almost every major national tournament including championships or top speaker awards at Grapevine, Meadows, Notre Dame, Alta, Blake, Stanford, Golden Desert, and Berkeley. He has also coached multiple state champions and three Top 5 finishers at NSDA Nationals, including the 2010 runners-up. In college, Mike was a four-time NDT qualifier for Weber State University and won a number of tournaments.
Malcolm Gordon
The Meadows School
Malcolm has coached for The Meadows School in Las Vegas for 8 seasons after coaching for 9 years at UMKC. As a debater at UMKC, he was top speaker at CEDA nationals, a first-round team to the NDT, a two-time top 10 speaker at the NDT, and lost in the finals of the 2007 NDT for a second place finish. As a college coach for 9 seasons, he coached teams to the elimination rounds of every major national tournament and the finals of CEDA nationals. At the NDT, he’s coached teams in the doubles, octafinals, and quarterfinals. Since joining The Meadows, he has coached three teams to the TOC with 15 total bids. He has had teams in the quarters, sems, and finals of multiple TOC bid tournaments, and coached the winners of the 2020 Greenhill Round Robin. This is his 21st year teaching at summer debate institutes.
Lucia Scott
The Barstow School
Lucia Scott has been teaching at The Barstow School in Kansas City since 2018. Her teams have qualified to the TOC three times in four years since she started. Before beginning at Barstow, Lucia debated at Kansas State University. She qualified for the NDT twice and cleared at the 2016 CEDA, ending in her run in the octofinals. After graduating from Kansas State with a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, Lucia began her masters program in Communication Studies at Baylor University where she coached a team to the octofinals of the 2018 NDT. She then completed the rest of her masters program remotely from Kansas City while beginning her job at Barstow. She’s been coaching for high school debate teams since 2013 and teaching at high school summer debate institutes since 2015.
George Weddington
University of Rochester Debate Union
George Weddington is currently a sociology PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh and an Assistant Director with the University of Rochester Debate Union. His research primarily focuses on race and social movements, with a specific focus on Black activism and policing.
Emilio Menotti
University of California, Berkeley
Emilio Menotti is a student at the University of California, where he studies political science and public policy. As an accomplished high school debater, he qualified to and broke at major national tournaments such as the TOC. Since graduating in 2022, Emilio has been the head coach at James Logan High school, where he has successfully coached multiple teams to qualify for the TOC. Emilio now debates as a 2A for Berkeley with his partner Riley.
Riley Reichel
University of California, Berkeley
Riley is an undergraduate at the University of California Berkeley where he studies Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and participates on the debate team. He was a double octa-finalist at the 2024 National Debate Tournament. He also coaches for Head-Royce where he coached teams to finals at Alta, semi-finals at Peninsula and Jack Howe, and quarter-finals at the TOC.
Ruth Dai
Potomac Debate
Biography: Ruth competed in Public Forum for four years at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland, under Potomac Debate Academy, serving as captain during her junior and senior years. Her notable achievements include ranking as high as 3rd in the nation her senior year, earning 9 career bids to the TOC (qualifying 3x), and amassing 10+ speaker awards including at GTOC, Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown. Additionally, she has reached deep elimination rounds at many tournaments including Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, University of Kentucky, and Georgetown University. As a coach and captain for Potomac Debate Academy, she specializes in teaching casewriting, back-half strategy, and developing round vision, mentoring a team of 1000+ elementary, middle, and high school debaters to champion and reach deep outrounds at the local and national level.
Mateo Mijares
University of California, Davis
Mateo is a policy debater at UC Davis, where he founded the policy team and qualified to the 2024 NDT in the program’s first year—a first in the university’s history. In high school he debated at Sonoma Academy, where he qualified for the TOC for the first time in school history and consistently reached elimination rounds at national tournaments. Before attending Davis, he went on to coach at Sonoma Academy for a year, helping teams reach elimination rounds at national invitationals.
Eliana McLaughlin
University of California, Davis
Eliana McLaughlin is a policy debater and undergraduate student at the University of California Davis, where she studies philosophy and economics. She participated in the creation and founding of the Davis policy debate team. Prior to attending Davis, she debated for four years at C.K McClatchy, where she qualified for the TOC twice and consistently reached elimination rounds at national tournaments.
Umar Shaikh
University of California, Davis
Umar is a policy debater at UC Davis, where he helped found the policy team and qualified for the 2024 NDT becoming the first team in school history to attend. He debated at James Logan High School, reaching the elimination rounds of major tournaments. After graduating high school Umar has been an assistant coach for Berkeley Preparatory helping teams qualify for and reach late elimination rounds of the TOC.
Zachery Thiede
University of Utah
Zachery is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Utah, studying classical philology and German. He is the assistant debate coach at Rowland Hall, where in his first year, he qualified a team to the TOC.
Lorilei Lassen
University of Wyoming
Lorilei currently debates at the University of Wyoming, where she is studying communications as well as going to flight school. She has consistently been in elimination rounds at college majors and the NDT, as well as earning a top speaker award at the Kentucky tournament. She is also an assistant coach for a high school team in Utah. This will be her second year at the CNDI.
Tom Perret
McGill University
Tom is a PF coach at Park City High School and a student at McGill University, in Montreal. At McGill, he conducts research in the philosophy department on the moral status of virtual phenomena and on the fittingness of emotion towards virtual objects and experiences. As a coach, he’s helped his students reach elimination rounds at tournaments like UK, Mid America, Alta, and Apple Valley. As a competitor, Tom went to the TOC twice, won Alta, and was in the semi-finals at Stanford. He’s excited to be returning to CNDI in 2024!
Gavin Serr
The Nueva School