Chetan Hertzig has been involved in Lincoln-Douglas debate for over a decade, and has been an LD coach for Sacred Heart High School in Massachusetts since January 2005, and for Scarsdale High School in New York since the fall of 2007. (From 1998 to 2004, he coached LD at Lexington High School in Massachusetts.) Over the last three seasons, his students have won the Glenbrooks, Harvard, Lexington, Manchester, the MBA Round Robin, the Massachusetts State championship (twice), and Yale (twice); placed second and fifth at NFL Nationals; reached elimination rounds at Greenhill, Blue Key, Apple Valley, Columbia (runner-up), and Emory, among other tournaments; participated in the Greenhill, Bronx, Lexington (runner-up), and Six Rounds of Spring Round Robins, among others; and debated in outrounds of the TOC. Previous students’ accomplishments include elimination rounds at every national invitational, invitations to every major round robin, several championships and final round appearances at regional TOC-qualifying tournaments, and outround appearances at the TOC, CFL, and NFL Nationals. Collectively, they have accumulated nearly 50 TOC bids.

As a debater at Lexington, Chetan reached elimination rounds at numerous tournaments, including Edison (top speaker), Newburgh, Manchester, Hendrick Hudson, Lakeland, Holy Cross, and Emory. A two-time state semifinalist (top speaker, 1998), he placed in the top 25 at TOC and won NCFL Nationals in 1998. In addition to NDF, he has taught debate at the Unversity of Texas National Institute of Forensics, the University of San Diego’s Speech and Debate Forum, and the National Symposium for Debate. He holds a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School (2005) and a B.A. from Brandeis University (2002 cum laude, with Highest Honors in Sociology). He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Teaching of Social Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. This is his sixth year at NDF.