The Mile High
Speech & Debate tournament & official NIETCO bid.
The University of Denver (DU) is a coeducational, four-year university in
Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private
university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. DU enrolls
approximately 5,600 undergraduate students and 6,100 graduate students.
The 125-acre main campus is a designated arboretum and is located
primarily in the University Neighborhood, about seven miles south of
downtown Denver.
On March 3, 1864, John Evans, former Governor of the Colorado Territory,
appointee of President Abraham Lincoln, founded the Colorado Seminary
in order to help "civilize" the newly created (1858) city of Denver, which
was then a mining camp. The seminary was founded as a Methodist
institution and struggled in the early years of its existence. In 1880 it was
renamed the University of Denver. Although doing business as the
University of Denver, DU is still legally named Colorado Seminary.
The first buildings of the university were located in downtown Denver in the
1860s and 1870s, but concerns that Denver's rough-and-tumble frontier
town atmosphere was not conducive to education prompted a relocation to
the current campus, built on the donated land of potato farmer Rufus Clark,
some seven miles south of the downtown core.
The university grew and prospered alongside the city's growth, appealing
primarily to a regional student body prior to World War II. After the war, the
large surge in GI bill students pushed DU's enrollment to over 13,000
students, the largest the university has ever been, and helped to spread the
university's reputation to a national audience.
The University of Denver is ranked 86th among all public and private
"National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2015-2016
rankings. The undergraduate business program, The Daniels College of
Business, was ranked 57th best in 2012 by BusinessWeek, and it was
ranked the 71st best program by U.S. News in a 2008 ranking.
In 2011, The University of Denver's Daniels College of Business was
ranked 2nd in the nation for its ethics programs among 111 undergraduate
business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek.
East High School’s speech and debate program named Denver East
Forensics Team (DEFT) is proud to partner with DU to form a history and
heritage of Colorado speech and debate competition. Denver East High
school East High School is a public high school located in the City Park
neighborhood on the east side of Denver, Colorado. It is part of the Denver
Public Schools System.
East High School opened in 1875 and was the first high school in Denver.
The first graduating class was in 1877. In 1889, it moved to 19th and Stout
Street because of the need for more room. This location is now referred to
as "Old East," and could accommodate 700 students. East High’s current
student enrollment is 2647.
East has been repeatedly honored as one of America's top high schools. It
was honored in 1957 as one of the country's top high schools and
subsequently selected in 1968 as one of America's Top Ten Schools. In
2000 Newsweek recognized East as one of America's top hundred public
high schools. In 2008, Newsweek again recognized East in its annual list of
the country's "Top High Schools".
The DEFT program is proud to be ranked last summer in the top ten
speech and debate programs in the country. We are honored to host the
Mile High for the sixth consecutive year. We are excited to host our
flagship NIETOC bid tournament. Students will have access to six round
between Friday and Saturday before elimination rounds and finals. We
welcome schools from far and near to come and join use for a breathtaking
weekend of competition! We Hope to see you at DU December 2nd and 3rd.
Any question please feel free to contact me directly.
Tournament Director,
Brent G. Dysart
[email protected]
720-410-3343 (cell)