Denzel Washington Headshot.tiff

Denzel Washington will step back up to the lectern at Wiley College 10 years after his movie “The Great Debaters” memorialized the college’s historic forensics program.

“The Great Debaters” also led to the revival of the forensics program at Wiley College, thanks to a $1 million gift from Washington to fund the relaunching of the college’s debate program.

Since the rebirth of the program, which is officially known as the Melvin B. Tolson/Denzel Washington Forensics Society, the team has earned more than 3,000 awards and has twice won the Overall Sweepstakes Championship and the Individual Events Sweepstakes Championship of the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament, a prestigious debate competition that Tolson’s teams were not allowed to take part in.

Washington will be recognized during the awards ceremony for the nation’s first Historically Black Colleges and Universities Speech and Debate Tournament Championship, which will be held at Wiley January 25-27.

The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday.

Last fall, Wiley College formed the HBCU Speech and Debate League thanks to a grant from the Charles Koch Foundation. To date, 18 schools, including Tennessee State University, Howard University, Rust College, Prairie View A&M University, Jackson State University, and Xavier University, have joined the league, and will take part in the HBCU championship tournament. 

“Through his support of Wiley College, Mr. Washington has preserved the legacy of the original Great Debaters and their debate coach and mentor, Melvin B. Tolson, while at the same time honoring Tolson’s memory by ensuring that current generations of students can carry forward Tolson’s legacy of excellence,” said Haywood L. Strickland, president and CEO of Wiley College. “He has been a staunch supporter of Wiley College and of historically black colleges, and we are forever indebted to him.”

When Washington is presented the award, he will be joined on stage by Bob Eisele, storywriter and scriptwriter for  “The Great Debaters” and Jeff Poro, storywriter for the “The Great Debaters.”

On the same night Washington is honored, the HBCU Debate League will induct Professor Tolson, posthumously, and legendary Houston debate coach Dr. Thomas Freeman, who trained Washington for his role in the movie, into its newly established Debate Hall of Fame.

“We are so pleased and it so fitting to have Mr. Washington back on campus as we launch the HBCU Speech and Debate Tournament,” Wiley’s Director of Forensics, Christopher Medina said. “Because of his unyielding support, our debate program was not only reborn, it has excelled in achieving goals of winning highly coveted prizes and awards, and producing Wiley graduates who credit debate education for equipping them with solid and marketable skills to compete in the workforce.”