Belonging and Inclusion Station Development and Implementation Guide 2023-2024
It is a privilege to provide students with an opportunity to participate in speech and debate. Speech and debate is an activity that serves a diverse community. We recognize that misunderstandings will happen and hope that a delicate balance can be struck between offering grace and learning moments while also ensuring the safety of all who participate in our tournaments. This guide provides an overview of the BIS along with guidelines and processes to utilize when implementing this very important resource at your tournament. Please recognize that while this document may have references specific to the National Speech & Debate Association, you have the freedom to tailor your BIS to your local/state organization. If you have any questions about this document or the Belonging and Inclusion Station, please contact Dr. Paul Porter, NSDA Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, at paul.porter@speechanddebate.org. All the best for a successful tournament experience!
Areas of Focus ●
Purpose and Scope: What the BIS Is and Isn’t
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Why You Should Have a BIS
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The Belonging and Inclusion Advocate
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Important Terms and Definitions
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BIS Intake Process and Corrective Action
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Implementing the BIS
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Promoting the BIS
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Where Is Your BIS?
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Tips and Resources
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Practice Scenarios
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Belonging and Inclusion Advocate Training and Quiz 3
What Is the Belonging and Inclusion Station (BIS)? What Is It For? The Belonging and Inclusion Station is a tournament resource designed to provide interpersonal support to participants who feel excluded from an aspect of the tournament. The BIS also safeguards against potential violations of the NSDA Harassment and Discrimination policy. Scope
Reasons Someone Might Visit the BIS
The BIS may serve as a resource for any student, coach, judge, or official participating at a tournament to seek interpersonal support or raise concerns an individual feels harassment and/or discrimination has occurred.
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An individual makes inappropriate remarks or jokes about traditionally marginalized groups. A really powerful speech (that violated no rules) triggers emotions in a contestant or judge and they need space to process their feelings.
Did You Know? You also can visit the BIS and express your feelings about the tournament. For example, if you do not make it to elimination rounds and your season is over, you can come to the BIS for help processing and unpacking your feelings.
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Principles of the BIS Teaching ●
Our Belonging and Inclusion Advocates help educate all visitors to the BIS on how exclusion, harassment, and discrimination negatively affect a person’s tournament experience.
Learning ●
The BIS seeks to address inappropriate behavior by guiding others in taking responsibility for their behavior, understanding any harmful impacts, and coming up with ways to both redeem themselves and avoid causing future harm.
Healing ●
The BIS should ease the pain caused by feelings of exclusion or perceptions of harassment or discrimination. Ideally, visitors to the BIS should feel restored about their tournament experience at the end of a visit.
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What the BIS Is NOT… ●
Punishment-focused
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An opportunity to alert the tournament to previous grievances
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A space to silence people
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Designed to empower or disempower tournament participants on the basis of political/social ideologies
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A loophole around tournament rules or guidelines
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Note: If something feels more like a rules issue than an interpersonal, harassment, or discrimination issue, the BIA should redirect the concerned person to the person who handles rules. In instances where a rules violation has harassment/discrimination elements, it may be beneficial for the BIA and tournament director to work in tandem. 6
Why Have a BIS? EQUITY Shared commitment to operational processes, practices, and spaces that affirm identity, promote inclusion, and ensure conditions of fairness COMPETITION
e.g., tournament accessibility and fees, technology, event offerings, parings, ranks
RULES
e.g., time limits, protests, permitted sources and/or literature, etc.
LOGISTICS
e.g., rooms, scheduling, food, accessibility accommodations
JUDGING
e.g., judging assignments, judge paradigms, judge training
ENVIRONMENT
e.g., interpersonal support, inclusive practices, anti-harassment and discrimination
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Why Have a BIS? ●
Everyone deserves a safe, caring, and welcoming tournament environment.
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The BIS helps decentralize equity throughout the tournament by space to ensure equity in the context of the tournament environment while other tournament resources and spaces (e.g. tournament office, tournament director, etc) ensure equity across other tournament elements.
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The Belonging and Inclusion Advocate ●
The Belonging and Inclusion Advocate (formerly known as Equity Officer) serves as the primary contact for anyone at a tournament with a harassment/discrimination concern or in need of interpersonal support.
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Ideally, your BIAs will not be judges, tournament directors, tab staff, etc. However, if that is not possible, be prepared to work around the possibility that your BIA may be asked to perform other duties at the tournament.
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The Belonging and Inclusion Advocate ●
In choosing the Belonging and Inclusion Advocate, try and include individuals with several of the below qualifications or characteristics: ● Committed to a safe and equitable environment ● Excellent interpersonal communication skills (e.g., listening, empathy, etc.) ● Skilled at deescalation ● Multicultural competence » ● Trained on harassment and discrimination, especially in the context of adolescent school environments ● Prior experience working with K-12 students and educators and/or with counseling or trauma-informed teaching practices ● Understanding and experience with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Did You Know? If you would like to have a BIA, but do not have a person to serve in this role, the NSDA will offer training sessions throughout the year for any person interested in becoming a BIA. All BIAs at NSDA-sponsored events must complete the virtual BIA training.
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Important Terms and Definitions Concerned Person
The individual who is visiting the BIS to raise a concern.
Corrective Action
Action(s) designed to improve and/or prevent unwanted or inappropriate behavior.
Discrimination
Treatment of a person (favorably or unfavorably) than another person(s) based on characteristics including (but not limited to) race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by any applicable federal, state, or local law.
Harassment
Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the recipient’s participation in speech and debate (e.g., bullying, sexual harassment, hostile environment, retaliation).
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Important Terms and Definitions Interpersonal Support
Caring and supportive interaction with an individual who feels excluded by an element of the tournament or feels emotionally distraught.
Subject of Concern
Someone alleged to have been involved in an incident of prohibited behavior.
For additional terms, please visit the Belonging and Inclusion Station web page »
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BIS Intake Process Intake
Inquiry
A concerned person wants an issue addressed beyond interpersonal support/care and puts their concern in writing via the Intake Form
BIA collects information on the concern
Resolution
Appeal
If necessary, BIA recommends a corrective action
Subject of concern has an option to appeal corrective action
It is always our hope that concerns brought to the BIS can be addressed with healing and teaching FIRST. The intake process, specifically the resolution and appeal steps, should be utilized when behavior warrants action beyond education and dialogue.
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Corrective Action Example of Behavior
Corrective Action
No Violation
A student feels alone at the tournament and wants to drop
The BIA provides support and care to the concerned person. No further action required.
Verbal Warning
Comments or jokes considered inappropriate (e.g., of a racist, sexist, homophobic, etc., nature)
Subject of concern receives a verbal warning and instruction on how to address their behavior and prevent repeated behavior.
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Corrective Action Example of Behavior Written Warning
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Perceived inappropriate contact or communication from a judge or coach to another tournament participant. This contact might be email outreach, private message through social media prior to or during the tournament, etc. Repeated or additional actions from previous tournaments.
Corrective Action First and final written warning to subject of concern’s guardian and/or supervising adult.
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Corrective Action Example of Behavior Sanction
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Sexual harassment or assault Physical violence against another tournament participant Repeated or additional actions from previous tournaments
Corrective Action ●
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Consult with tournament director on appropriate sanction Letter to subject of concern’s guardian and/or supervising adult
Note: If someone reports sexual assault/violence, the BIA, tournament director, or concerned person’s supervising adult should contact law enforcement immediately.
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Implementing the BIS Before the Tournament ●
Appoint a Belonging and Inclusion Advocate »
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Publish information about the BIS.
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Designate a private space for the BIS. This is where inquiries will take place.
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Post signage about the BIS.
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Create an intake form and determine whether your tournament needs a reporting form (review the BIS Report Form the NSDA uses for district tournaments).
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Share the BIS guide with your school administration and tournament leadership.
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Check with school administration to learn any variables that may influence corrective action.
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Implementing the BIS During the Tournament ●
Hear Concerns. If someone articulates a need for interpersonal support or concern about the NSDA Harassment and Discrimination policy, direct them to the BIS and have them speak with the BIA.
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Intake Form. The BIA asks the concerned person to complete the intake form. The BIA should do their best to make the individual with a concern feel safe and heard.
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Interviews. The BIA interviews any persons relevant to the reported concern.
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Action as Needed. The BIA determines and implements appropriate corrective action, if necessary.
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Implementing the BIS After the Tournament ●
Consider whether correspondence with the responsible person and their supervising adult and/or guardian is necessary. Review the Letter of Closure as a template »
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Promoting the BIS ● ● ● ●
It is important for all attendees to know that the tournament they are attending has a Belonging and Inclusion Station. Your tournament invitation is the first place to communicate your intention to offer a Belonging and Inclusion Station at your tournament. Create a dedicated email to coaches announcing the tournament will have a Belonging and Inclusion Station. Consider creating a dedicated section on Tabroom.com or other online tournament registration systems. ○ Include the location of your BIS, the name of your Belonging and Inclusion Advocate, and details on how to access the BIS during the tournament. (Refer to the BIS Addendum for sample language »)
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Where Is Your BIS? ●
IF YOUR BIS IS IN PERSON: Belonging and Inclusion Advocates should be given a private space with at least one additional room for conversations in case multiple equity concerns occur simultaneously. Try to avoid rooms with windows or anything located in commonly utilized corridors of the tournament. If possible, this space should be found in close proximity to your tournament office.
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IF YOUR BIS IS ONLINE: Make sure that you have an easily accessible room that is available to coaches, judges, and students and can be widely shared (e.g., Zoom link, NSDA Campus, or Google Meet). If your tournament is using Tabroom.com, consider creating a utility room at Paneling » Rooms » Utility for your BIS. Make sure you have a way to move individuals to private rooms so others do not inadvertently join. If you’re using Zoom, breakout rooms are great for private conversations, or you can enable the waiting room function to control when participants are able to enter the main room. 21
Implementing Where Is Your BIS? the BIS ●
IF YOUR BIS IS ONLINE, BUT YOUR TOURNAMENT IS IN PERSON: Ensure that you have published how attendees get in touch with the BIA. Consider having an in-person intake station where participants can come to share that they plan to report a violation.
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BIS Tips ●
Tournament Venue. The tournament host should defer to their school’s policies for further information regarding sexual harassment/assault as well as discrimination, regardless of the tournament venue.
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Have an Adult Present. All interactions between the BIA and students must include an additional supervising adult, so please ask students to bring a coach, parent, or tournament official with them.
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Keep the Space Private. The BIS should be a private room. This means that there will be no other individuals in the room except the BIA, the concerned person, or the subject of concern and their supervising adult.
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BIS Tips ●
Addressing Concerns. It is always our hope that concerns brought to the BIS can be addressed with healing and teaching FIRST. When addressing interpersonal communication issues, it is recommended that the BIA talk to the subject of concern about things like “intent vs. impact” and how subtle changes to messages can cause ill-intended interpretation and response.
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Determining Corrective Action. Before deciding on a corrective action, the BIA should ask themselves questions like, “What were the intentions behind the behavior? Was there remorse? What is the concerned person’s desired outcome?”
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BIS Tips ●
Don’t Let the Language Scare You. The intake process is in place when an issue cannot be addressed with educating and healing alone. While there are options to address more serious issues, the primary focus of the BIA is education and care.
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Bullying as Harassment. Bullying is included in the definition of harassment (social, cyber, etc.). For example, if a student rolls their eyes and laughs at an opponent, it is considered social bullying and can be subject to corrective action if educating the subject of concern isn’t enough.
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BIS Tips ●
Take Notes. Try to take detailed notes during the inquiry and go back through your notes to ensure that you have accurately heard all sides of the story.
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Use Your School. Concerns that warrant a sanction may have implications that fall outside of the purview of the BIS. When in doubt, you can always reach out to your school administration for insight.
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Contacting the NSDA. BIAs at NSDA tournaments should contact the national office when: ○ ○ ○
Behavior warrants a written warning or sanction. The BIA needs support and/or guidance. After the district tournament, using the reporting form.
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Tips for Intervention and Support ●
Work Through Adults to Contact Students. This might seem obvious, but also easy to miss if you’re not careful: do not contact students directly. When you have an intake from a student, make sure that they have a supervising adult with them—either their coach, parent, guardian, or a member of the tournament staff they feel comfortable with. Also, be sure to contact their coach first, and have them coordinate getting the student(s) to the BIS.
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Be an Empathic Listener. Coming to the BIS may result in emotions including anger, embarrassment, shock, or even fear. Empathic listeners hear the speaker, understand their perspective, and validate people’s feelings. You can listen empathically by giving verbal and nonverbal cues that you are listening carefully (e.g., nodding your head, making eye contact), and paraphrasing their words to ensure understanding.
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Tips for Intervention and Support ●
Be Teacherly Before Punitive. The BIS is an educational resource. While violating the NSDA Harassment and Discrimination policy carries consequence, the BIA’s top priority is to provide education and care. Try to avoid instant punitive action and begin with supportive measures and/or teacherly moments. When talking with a complainant, this might mean saying things like, “Thank you for coming to the BIS and bringing this to our attention. If you're willing to talk more about this, I’m happy to listen and help in any way I can.” With a respondent, it could mean explaining to them how their behavior impacts others—e.g., “I know this wasn’t your intent, but some people hear ‘______________,’ and they feel ______________ because ______________.” Even when explaining the corrective course of action, try to sound more like a teacher and less like a lawyer.
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Tips for Intervention and Support ●
Read the Room. Pay attention to the way your communication lands and be prepared to adjust if necessary. You may have instances where a complainant is frantic, and you’ll want to slow the conversation down, paraphrase, and clarify for understanding. There may also be moments where a respondent doesn’t understand why they’ve been called to the BIS, and you’ll want to walk them through the intake process, give them time to react to a concern about them, and share their information. If you are paying attention to your audience, it’s easier to communicate effectively.
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Take Your Time. There are many instances where people come to the BIS just so that they can be heard. In those moments, give people a chance to talk. Unless someone is reporting sexual assault or sexual violence, don’t feel like you have to rush to action. Sometimes, just sitting and listening can go a long way.
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Tips for Intervention and Support ●
Intent vs. Impact. Unwelcome conduct does not have to include intent to harm, be directed at a specific target, or involve repeated incidents (e.g., microinsults, microinvalidations, and misgendering). The “small” instance that leads someone to the BIS might be the 100th instance they’ve experienced that day. It is important that respondents recognize the impact of their communication, regardless of intent.
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Don’t Make Up Answers. If you don’t have the answer to a question, do not try to make one up. It’s acceptable to say, “Let me double check with the tournament director” or “I’m going to consult with the national office.” If necessary, NSDA events can always contact the NSDA Director of DEI for insight. Correct answers are better than fast ones.
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Avoid “You” and “But” Messages. “You” messages (e.g., “You did ________ and it’s bad.”) sound accusatory and may elicit defensiveness rather than understanding. “But” messages (e.g., “I hear that you were insulted, but ________”) sound contradictory and invalidating. Your best bet is to use “I” messages, which put the interpretation on you as the listener, and can give the person in the room freedome to clarify/correct without feeling accused (e.g., “I’m hearing that the behavior experienced was inappropriate because of offensive language. Am I hearing this correctly?”).
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Tips for Intervention and Support ●
Withhold Bias. We all have bias. It’s as natural as breathing. And while we cannot reverse our biases, it is important that we are aware of potential mental and emotional blind spots that might cloud our judgment. This is especially important when working as a BIA. Please listen with an open mind and try to recognize instances in which you might be hearing a person with bias, rather than giving fair consideration.
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Hear All Sides of the Story. Make sure you work through all steps of the process— especially the inquiry/information gathering piece. You don’t want to recommend a corrective course of action (resolution) until you have a full picture of the concern being discussed.
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Tips for Intervention and Support ●
Keep Implications in Mind. Coming to the BIS can be stressful. As you engage in an inquiry and determine a resolution, please keep in mind how being in the BIS can affect someone’s tournament experience. Try to be teacherly and avoid causing someone additional stress—especially if it could negatively affect a student’s performance or a coach’s ability to tend to their team or judge.
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Be in the Moment. Try to keep complaints specific to the tournament you are currently attending. If someone comes to the BIS to raise a complaint about something that happened at a tournament last year or three weeks ago, please encourage the complainant to talk with their coach, parent (if applicable), or school administration.
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Tips for Intervention and Support ●
Use Your Cultural Awareness. Speech and debate is a multicultural activity that is open to a wide diversity of participants. Please keep in mind that some methods of communication may be linked to cultural differences. As such, some concerns might be presented as egregious, when they are actually cultural norms (e.g., some people are naturally loud when they speak or get passionate when speaking/performing/debating). This is something to consider when listening to a respondent explain their behavior.
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Tips for Intervention and Support ●
Treat Indirect Concerns as Concerns. If someone seeks to raise a concern about behavior that wasn’t directed toward them, but still troubling (e.g., someone sees inappropriate behavior or in a round), this is considered an Indirect Concern. In this instance, the person who witnessed the behavior should be invited to talk about it/fill out the intake form.
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Balance Peace AND Justice. Not all BIS concerns are going to result in corrective action. You will have people who seek you out as a listening ear. You might even have an alleged violator of the NSDA Harassment and Discrimination policy who simply needs to hear your perspective to understand the impact of their words or actions. In these moments, it’s important to remember that the purpose of the BIS is just as much healing and teaching as it is punitive action. When an inquiry is over, make sure that everyone walks out feeling heard. Helpful hint: It’s always a good idea to end a conversation by asking the people in the room if there’s anything else you can do to help them. 34
Additional Resources BIS Addendum
Tips for Intervention and Support
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Practice Scenarios: What Would You Do? ●
After a round of Congress, a judge comes to the BIS to report that they observed a presiding officer who repeatedly ignored contestants from “conservative schools.” When you speak to the student, their rationale is, “Conservatives are sexist and say problematic things.”
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An African American student comes to the BIS in tears. When asked what’s wrong, they say, “I didn’t break to finals. I’ve been winning against four of the six finalists all season, and I didn’t get a BIPOC judge all tournament.”
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A judge, who identifies as a white woman in her mid-60s and has been coaching since the 1980s, comes to the BIS to raise a concern about students who roll their eyes and sigh when she comes into the room. 36
Practice Scenarios: What Would You Do? ●
During a round of Informative, a male judge says to a gender fluid student, “Young lady, if you’re double-entered and need to go to your other event first and come back, that shouldn’t be an issue.”
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A coach comes to the BIS to report that the judge of his female debater has expressed concerns about her attire. Specifically, the judge told him, “Your student’s short skirt is distracting. It’s pretty slutty.”
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A student comes to the BIS and is upset because their first round judge jokingly commented, “Whoa, big fella. You clearly haven’t missed a meal.”
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A student comes to the BIS to raise a concern about a judge who has misgendered them. When you talk to the judge, they apologize profusely, and express embarrassment at their behavior and remorse for hurting a student’s feelings.
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Thank You! Next Step: Take the BIA Training and Quiz »