Brian is the Director of Debate at Edgemont Jr./Sr. High School in New York and Director of Policy Debate at Stanford University, in addition to serving as a consultant for the National Speech & Debate Association. Widely recognized for his unrivaled talent in revitalizing traditional programs, Brian was named the 2008 Michael Bacon Coach of the Year and 2016 Val A. Browning Director of the Year. He has been coaching for nearly 20 years and was recently elected to the Executive Board of the National Debate Coaches Association.
Under his leadership, Edgemont’s debate program has flourished, winning five state championships and countless speaker awards, as well as presenting to the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. His students championed the 2015 Georgetown Day School Invitational and 2018 Mamaroneck Round Robin in Policy Debate; 2018 Harrison Round Robin and 2019 Newark Round Robin in Lincoln-Douglas Debate; and 2016 Lakeland Round Robin, 2016 Westchester Classic, 2018 University of Michigan High-School Tournament, and 2019 Lakeland Round Robin in Public Forum Debate. After past outround appearances in Policy and Lincoln-Douglas, Edgemont will be represented in all principal debate events at this year’s Tournament of Champions. Brian has enjoyed equal success at Stanford, where he coached its first team in two decades—and fourth team ever—to qualify for the National Debate Tournament, finishing in the top 30 in both 2013 and 2015.
Over the course of his professional career, Brian has coached for Harvard University, College Preparatory School, Cathedral Preparatory School, Chattahoochee High School, Lakeland High School, and Scranton High School. His students have advanced to elimination rounds at every major national tournament, including NSDA, NDCA, NCFL, and CEDA Nationals. He also coached the champions of the 2003 Big Bronx Invitational, 2008 Barkley Forum, and 2012 Golden Desert Tournament in Policy Debate, along with the 2007 NCFL finalists, 2012 NSDA finalists, and 2013 Phyllis Flory Barton top speaker.
During the summer, Brian serves as the Academic Director at the Stanford National Forensic Institute. He previously taught workshops at the University of Kentucky, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, and Millennial Speech & Debate. Brian is looking forward to his first summer at ISD!
Meredith Deaton coached 3 national champions in United States extemp in a 4-year period, a national record. She has also coached 9 state champions in International Extemp, US Extemp, and Lincoln-Douglas debate, 3 invitees to the Montogomery Bell Extemp Round Robin, and multiple finalists at tournaments such as Harvard, UT Austin, Stanford, and St. Mark’s. In 2014, Northwestern University’s Extemp Tournament of Champions named her Coach of the Year. After studying political science at New York University, she developed first-hand knowledge of global affairs by traveling to over 40 countries, including a 2015 Fund for Teachers fellowship to research genocide recovery in Germany and Rwanda, and an independent exploration of Central Asian countries participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. After coaching at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa for ten years, she now coaches privately while teaching AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, and AP Human Geography at the Science and Engineering Magnet in Dallas, TX.
Megan Butt is currently in her eighth year of teaching, and first year directing the speech and debate program at Providence High School. In her five years of coaching, Megan has helped coach over 70 state and district finalists, dozens of national qualifiers, and several state champions. She has also coached students to late out-rounds at NSDA Nationals, including assistant coaching both Carolina West district World Schools Debate teams to 5th and 8th place in 2017. Outside of forensics, Megan is an experienced classroom instructor who currently teaches English and AP Seminar, an advanced critical thinking and research writing course. When she’s not coaching debate, Megan enjoys her second-favorite pastime: arguing with her husband, Bilal Butt. Megan has watched her best students experience incredible growth at ISD over the years, and is excited to finally join the ISD family as a faculty member this summer!
Bilal Butt is the Director of Speech and Debate at Charlotte Latin School. Bilal is a one-diamond NSDA coach who was the North Carolina coach of the year in 2019. He has served on the Tarheel Forensic League state committee, and the NSDA Public Forum Debate Topic Wording Committee. Over his time in the activity, his students have earned a long list of impressive results. His teams closed out Yale (1st and 2nd place), championed the George Mason Invitational, reached finals of Wake Forest, Durham, Harvard, Blake, and NCFL Grand Nationals, reached semifinals of the New York City, Emory, Sunvite, and Glenbrooks invitational tournaments. They also reached quarterfinals at the Tournament of Champions and top 8 at the NSDA National tournament in both Public Forum Debate and World Schools Debate.
