Lowell Forensic Society

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The Lowell Forensic Society, founded in 1892, is the oldest high school speech and debate team in the nation and also the largest organization at Lowell High School in San Francisco, California. The society occupies Room 135, also known as "Leland Room," named after former Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury Marc E. Leland.

With over 200 members, the team travels regularly to prestigious national invitations, including Harvard, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Long Beach, and Utah. Lowell Forensics has also competed in the National Speech and Debate Tournament under the National Forensic League for 40 years, making it one of the longest running national championship teams in the nation.

Lowell Forensic graduates can be found today at many top international colleges such as Harvard, Cornell, Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley, and Dartmouth.

[edit] Recent History

In the nineties, the Forensic Society saw one of its greatest peaks under the leadership of Sandy Bird. Every year during the decade, Forensics made it to nationals while Individual Events and Congress debate saw a major comeback in the late nineties as Lowellites took greater interest in dramatic events. In 1995, Lowell Forensics received the NFL Leading Chapter Award in San Francisco Bay Area District and later for two consecutive years, in 1997 and 1998, the Lowell Forensics Society was named one of the top 5% of NFL Chapters in the nation for achieving over 200 degrees.

The forensics teams suffered a setback in 2002 however when the Forensics team lost its longtime coach, Ms. Sandra Bird, an irreplaceable part of Lowell’s debate legacy. Ms. Bird, who brought our team from states to nationals year after year as the coach of Lowell Forensics for decades, retired after receiving her fifth diamond (the highest and rarest honor bestowed by the National Forensic League).

In the years that followed Ms. Bird’s retirement, Mr. Christopher Newhouse, a biology teacher, took up the helm of leading the team while administrative and training duties largely fell into the hands of student leaders of the organization. The forensics team, for a short period, was also conjoined to the English department, resulting in a lack of a permanent coaching staff. In light of these changes, the society board’s officer arrangements were reformed in 2003, with the creation of the new positions of Congress Director, Policy Debate Director, and Individual Events Director.

At the same time, despite these organizational challenges, Forensics in the new millennium has become the largest student organization on campus. In 2003-2005, forensics membership more than tripled, with 172 students; one in nine Lowell students is affiliated with the Lowell Forensic Society while 199 new NFL degrees were earned in 2005. In the same year, with generous support from the Fineman Fund and the Lowell Alumni Association, Lowell qualified for Nationals for the 39th time in addition to State Championships, Stanford, Berkeley, and Harvard national invitational tournaments. In addition, with 1518 points earned, 2-time National and state finalist Jeffrey Kwong earned the first Premier Distinction Degree from the National Forensic League, the highest distinction awarded to high school debaters in the nation.

[edit] Alumni

Lowell Forensic Society alumni include Yale University President Richard Levin, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, California Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, actress Carol Channing, actor Benjamin Bratt, writer Naomi Wolf, actor Bill Bixby, PG&E CEO Frederick Mielke, author Daniel Handler, and numerous academics, writers, and judges.

• Jack Anderson, 1949 Longtime Lowell H.S. Forensics coach and VPA Dept. chair
• Larry Baer, 1975 Assistant to the President, CBS
• Grant Barnes, 1950 First Forensics National Champion (Oratory); Director, Stanford Press
• Bill Bixby, 1952 Television star, My Favorite Martian and The Incredible Hulk
• Nancy Bleiweiss, 1967 Original Star of SF state comedy Beach Blanket Babylon
• Charles Breyer, 1959 U.S. District Court Judge, 9th Circuit; formerly Attorney at Coblentz, Cahen, McCabe & Breyer
• Stephen Breyer, 1955 U.S. Supreme Court associate justice; Harvard law professor
• Edmund G. Brown, 1923 California Governor, 1959-1967; State Attorney General
• Harold Brown, 1925 California Court of Appeals justice
• Julia C. Chang Bloch, 1959 U.S. Ambassador to Nepal – first U.S. ambassador of Asian descent
• Carol Channing, 1938 International star of screen and stage
• Jesse Colman, 1895 President of San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 1920-1930
• Reynold Colvin, 1934 Attorney arguing Bakke V UC Regents; Member of SF School Board
• William C. Crittenden, 1901 Rhode Scholar, first pioneering class, 1904
• Monroe Deutsch, 1898 Provost of UC Berkeley, 1940-1950
• Lloyd Dinkelspiel, 1916 Chairman of the Stanford University Board of Trustees
• Joseph Edleheit, 1964 Rabbi of Emanuel Congregation; Chicago, Illinois
• Ken Flower, 1949 University of California basketball great
• Minnie Goldberg, 1917 Emeritus Professor of Medicine at UC san Francisco
• Bonnie Goldmnn, 1959 Civic leader and board member of Hillsborough Schools Foundation
• Maurice Harrison, 1904 Dean of the Hastings College of the Law
• David Heilbron, 1954 Rhodes Scholar; Former president of California State Bar
• John Heilbron, 1951 Vice Chancellor and professor of History at UC Berkeley
• Louis Heilbron, 1924 President, California State Board of Education; CSU Trustee
• Lanneal Henderson, 1965 Professor and Chairman of Political Science Dept. at UT Knoxville
• George Herrington, 1916 Attorney; Founder of firm: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
• Jacques Hymans, 1954 San Francisco State University Professor of History
• Penelope P. Katerndal, 1973 UC Berkeley Gold Medalist; Attorney
• Marc E. Leland, 1955 U.S. Asst. Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs, 1981-1984
• Allan Lerch, 1960 Attorney; Founder of firm: Allan Lerch & Associates
• Edgar Levey, 1899 California Assembly speaker, 1927-1932; UC Regent
• Richard Levin, 1964 President, Yale University; Professor and Chairman of Economics, Yale University
• Bert Levit, 1920 President of San Francisco Board of Education
• Marvin Lewis, 1924 San Francisco Supervisor and leader for creation of BART
• Leland Levy, 1952 Mayor of Palo Alto; 3-term president of Palo Alto City Council
• Parker Maddux, 1899 President of Bank of San Francisco
• Frank Mandel, 1900 Broadway playwright and producer of “No, No, Nanette”
• Lorraine Marchi-Fasti, 1941 Founder of National Ass’n. for Visually Handicapped
• Milton Marks, Sr., 1910 California Assemblyman and San Francisco Supervisor
• Kurtis Mayer, 1948 Washington state developer and businessman
• Frederick Mielke, 1938 CEO and Chairman of Pacific Gas & Electric; Stanford trustee
• Ellen M. Newman, 1945 Director of Wells Fargo Bank and owner of Ellen Newman Associates
• Jefferson Peyser, 1917 California Assemblyman and San Francisco Supervisor
• Stuart Pollak, 1955 San Francisco Superior Court Judge
• Larry Rhine, 1927 Emmy-nominated writer ( I Love Lucy, Bob Hope, & All in the Family)
• Sidney Rudy, 1928 Attorney; Founder of firm: Sidney Rody, Hanson, Bridget & Rudy
• Lee Sankowich, 1960 Artistic dir., Marin Theatre Co.; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• Edward Soares, 1929 A Stanford “Immortal 21” who recovered The Axe from Cal in 1930
• Mathew Tobriner, 1920 California Supreme Court justice
• Stephen O. Tobringer, 1962 Professor of Architecture, UC Berkeley
• John Trasvine, 1976 Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution
• Robert M. Underhill, 1911 UC Board of Regents secretary and treasurer
• Mike Voine, 1916 Lowell’s MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
• Stanley Weigel, 1922 US. Federal District of Northern California judge
• Arne Werchick, 1957 Attorney; Firm: Werchick & Werchick
• Pearl Steiner West, 1940 First woman director of major U.S. correctional system
• Naomi Wolf, 1980 Rhodes Scholar; Author, The Beauty Myth
• Alphonso Zirpoli, 1922 US. Federal District of Northern California judge

[edit] 2006-2007 Officers

Name	Position
Jacky Kwong	President
Jason Siu	Vice President
Emily Mock	Secretary
Eleanor Yu	Treasurer
Ada Moy	Individual Events Director
Roy Lee	Congressional Debate Director
Kenneth Kozakura	Policy Debate Director