As 2024 dawns we honor the passing of two distinguished members of the collegiate debate and NPDL families. John Katsulas, Director of the Fulton Debating Society at Boston College, pays tribute to the rich lives and careers of Tom Jewell and Dale Herbeck, who will live on in the hearts of those who know them…

Thomas E. Jewell, August 22, 1952 to August 21, 2023

Tom Jewell, a retired Professor of Communication at Bergen Community College, who relocated to Denton, Texas, passed away on August 21, 2023 after a seventh-month battle with a glioblastoma brain tumor.

Debate played a prominent role in Tom’s professional career.  While earning his Master’s in Communication Studies and then his J.D. degree from Brigham Young, Tom coached the debate team. 

From 1982 to 1998, Tom served as the Director of Debate at the University of New Mexico.  He fielded many outstanding debate teams who competed in tournaments sponsored by the Cross-Examination Debate Association (CEDA) and the National Debate Tournament Committee (NDT).

In 1987, Tom coached the New Mexico team of Mike Stanley and Leah Neal (his future wife) to a second place at the CEDA National’s Championship Tournament.  

Tom also qualified numerous New Mexico teams to the NDT in 1985, 1990, 1995, 1996, and 1998.  In 1990, the team of D’Andra Millsap & Glen Shu reached the elimination rounds of the NDT.

In 1998, Tom resigned as the Director of Debate after his wife, Leah, accepted a position with Prentice Hall in New Jersey. 

For twenty-two years, Tom taught communication classes at Bergen County Community College.  He authored a book, Interpersonal Communication Relating to Others (2005) and he devised numerous online classes. 

At Bergen, Tom also served as Interim Dean of Virtual Studies, and later as Acting Vice President for Academic Services. 

In his retirement, Tom enjoyed playing golf, bird-watching, and serving as a volunteer coach for the National Prison Debate League (NPDL).  He coached the Maine State Prison team that defeated Wake Forest University in an online debate on April 25, 2023.

He is survived by his loving wife Leah, sons Rob and Calder, daughter Dagny, and grandchildren Bode and Fin.

Dale A. Herbeck, June 14, 1958 to October 26, 2023

Dale Herbeck, who served as a volunteer judge for the NPDL, died unexpectedly while taking a walk near his home.  Since 2012, Dale Herbeck has been a professor of Communication at Northeastern University. 

Dale received his PhD. at the University of Iowa, where he coached the debate team to great success. In 1985, he coached Robert Garman and Karla Leeper to a second-place finish at the National Debate Tournament (NDT).

From the Fall of 1985 to the Spring of 1994, Dale Herbeck served as the Director of Debate at Boston College.  His teams qualified for the National Debate Tournament (NDT) in eight consecutive years (1987 to 1994) and the program earned a first-place in the overall point rankings in 1990 and 1992.

After retiring from debate, Herbeck enjoyed a prolific career as a communication scholar.  He wrote an award-winning textbook (co-authored with Thomas Tedford), Freedom of Speech in the United States, that received the Franklyn S. Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression by the National Communication Association (NCA). 

Herbeck also served as the editor of Argumentation and Advocacy and the Free Speech Yearbook,–the preeminent journals in the field of argumentation and free speech scholarship.

In 2022, the American Forensic Association (AFA) awarded Herbeck (and his co-author Sarah Mehltretter Drury) with the Daniel Rohrer Memorial Outstanding Research Award for their article, “The first Kennedy-Nixon debate: the McKeesport Junto of 1947,’ published in Argumentation and Advocacy. 

Dale Herbeck was also a gifted teacher.  In 2000, he was voted by Boston College students as the recipient of the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award.  In 2010, the NCA awarded him with The Donald H. Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education.

As Department Chair of Communication at Boston College for 9 years and then at Northeastern University for 10 years, Dale Herbeck took steps to expand the faculty and improve the course offerings to students.

For many years, Dale Herbeck provided extraordinary service to the AFA by serving as its president from 1992 to 1994 and chairing the Finance Committee for numerous years.

He is survived by his loving wife Eddie, his stepson Brett Simmers, his brother James, and both of his parents.