Jack Jenkins Award

The Jack Jenkins Award is named in honor of the Jack Jenkins Foundation, which is one of TDC's longstanding and most generous partners. The foundation was established to honor a former Westlake debater who passed away many years ago. And in remembrance of Jack and the foundation that bears his name, TDC presents the Jack Jenkins Award each year to two students who exemplify the values of TDC---they nurture the best in others; they encourage their labmates to work hard, believe in themselves, and to pursue and achieve excellence.

TDC 2024

Alyssa Gomez

This wonderful student never hesitates to ask questions in class and always participates in activities. She often seeks out extra help during office hours and challenges herself with the knowledge she learned. She always makes sure to communicate with her labmates with kindness and care. She embodies the TDC spirit of intellectual curiosity in all her actions with labmates and instructors. We are so proud of her!

Zaid Rashid

In lab, Zaid is an amazing student to have the opportunity to teach. Not only does he ask tons of questions and always wants to match up with anyone for drills, Zaid always takes time out of his day to ask us questions outside of lab time. He radiates such positive energy and lights up lab even when the drills seem too intense. He’s always funny and has a smile which adds to the joy he brings to the space. Zaid never questions anyone and takes criticism very well, to the point that he will write paragraphs of notes on his flow so he can improve on his speech the next time around. Zaid just really seems to adore the debate space and values everyone’s time which we can all appreciate! Look forward to seeing what Zaid does this upcoming season!

TDC 2023

Tristan Calvez

Tristan is a very brilliant student full of ideas. He is a great leader and someone you can always trust. Although it was hard to first get him to open up, over the course of the two weeks at TDC, he became more involved and gained lots of friends. Tristan has been a very hardworking student who seems to care about learning what debate is really about and how much it can help outside of rounds. He is a great teammate and I’m sure everyone who got to work with him really appreciates his participation.

Miles Kshatriya

Miles Kshatriya has provided an amazing amount of support and care for his lab mates and continues to strive to make the debate community more inclusive. I think Miles is passionate, caring, and just genuinely represents the best part of debate. As a student, Miles is proactively engaged with lectures and drills while being a supportive lab mate.