The National Forensic League is a non-partisan, not for profit educational honor society founded in 1925 by Bruno E. Jacob at Ripon College. Its purpose is to encourage and motivate high school students to participate in and become proficient in the forensic arts: debate, public speaking, and interpretation. NFL has appeared on the approved list of the National Association of Secondary School Principals National Advisory List of Contests and Activities since origination of the list.
Since its founding, the NFL has enrolled over 1,264,888 members in all fifty states, U. S. possessions and several foreign countries. Currently over 93,000 high school students and over 6500 high school teachers are active members. Prominent NFL alumni include President Lyndon Johnson, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Senators Richard Lugar and William Frist, media visionary Ted Turner, Academy Award winners Patricia Neal and Don Ameche, Emmy award winners Kelsey Grammar and Shelly Long, television host Oprah Winfrey, news anchor Jane Pauley, CSPAN founder Brian Lamb, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, University President David Boren, Federal National Mortgage CEO Franklin Delano Raines.
The NFL National Tournament has been held continuously since 1931 (except for the W. W. II years) Due to the encouragement of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the National Student Congress Tournament continued through the war years. Contests are held in a number of different events; Policy Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Legislative Debate, Public Forum (Ted Turner) Debate, United States Extemporaneous Speaking, International Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Oratory, Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Commentary, Impromptu Speaking, Prose Reading, Poetry Reading, Expository Speaking and Storytelling. Over $153,000 in college scholarships are awarded. The 2007 Kansas Nationals was held June 17-22, 2007 and drew 2700 students and 1500 coaches, school administrators and parents. The contest for 2008 will be held in Henderson, Nevada, June 15-20th, 2008.
