3/19/2016
AUDL Middle School State Championship
Georgia State University
5 PM
Melissa will retire from Emory University on October 30, 2015, but she will remain involved in the debate community as the President of the Glenn Pelham Foundation for Debate Education. Melissa is a principle founder of the Atlanta Urban Debate League, which sparked the urban debate league movement that now exists in more than 20 major U.S. cities. We owe our beginnings as an organization to Melissa Wade and look forward to a continued partnership with her at the helm of the Glenn Pelham Foundation for Debate Education.
AUDL Middle School State Championship
Georgia State University
5 PM
Melissa Wade Roast and Celebration
More Details to Come
Time TBA
Complete the online form to share your comments, which will appear on this page and become part of a virtual memory book and thank you card for Melissa. To share photos, email them to info@glennpelham.org, and we will upload them to the page for you. If you would prefer to privately express your remarks to Melissa but to still have them included in a memory book we will be making for her, please email your comments to info@glennpelham.org.
Dearest Melissa,
How can you retire? We are both still young and full of energy. Only yesterday we were holding those big black flow pads debating Tuna. Actually we never give up debate, although my wife sometimes wishes I would. I am heading to Istanbul to see someone you like and will be giving a presentation on investment. To prepare I made notes on index cards!
I am sure that the people roasting you today will primarily be telling what you gave to them as a coach. Our relationship was somewhat different but you gave a lot to me. I remember first meeting you. As you know I am much taller than you but you seemed a giant to me. (No not just the hair). I was the little debater from small town Clearwater and you were a national god. You and Richard Friend were going to take over the world. There were other top national debaters there as well such as Kidwell and Gordon. Can you remember, Maxcy, why none of us had first names in those days? Mersky and I would listen to you blast the opposition.
We had good times and bad times but always interesting times.
To keep it short and dry eyed, can you and some of the oldies remember;
• Your hand in the door – I closed the car door on your hand somewhere in New England. I walked away wondering why you were not following. You were in such pain you could not even screen. Luckily you had on gloves and the fingers were still attached. You decided not to yell at me as it was more important to get to the next round and crush someone. You could kill me later.
• Debate cards in the snow – We (err maybe I) dropped a full box of debate cards in the snow running to a round. We picked them up and of course needed them in the next round.
• Missing flights – We missed the Atlanta flight to NYC where GP was waiting for us. No, it was not your fault. Lotito was still asleep when we arrived to pick him up from his house. At Atlanta airport we grabbed the next flight to NYC. Did anyone check that it was a direct flight? Details. It stopped a few times and when we finally were met at the NYC arrival gate by GP who was staring at YOU (I wonder why he assumed ….)_ It was your finger that with the speed of light pointed at Lotito and the story was told of why we were 3 hours late.
• Party games at Kidwell’s house with Weeks, Merry Lynne and all.
• BF for high school tournament was traditionally the same weekend as the Chi Phi formal dance. This made judging the morning rounds more exciting for me and produced some memories. Well, let’s skip the details.
• Smoozing – What did you and Unger talk about so much? Did he “fancy” you?
• Drive to California from Florida -We decided to drive to Redlands from Florida for a debate trip. I started in Clearwater, picked up Kidwell in Atlanta and drove on to Houston. Luckily you had the sense to suggest flying the rest of the way. The USA was bigger than I thought back then, .
• Finish the word car game – With GP we would play the do not finish the word game. GP usually won until we sneaked a dictionary into the back seat.
• Night driving – I usually drove the through the night return trips back to Emory. You normally stayed up to talk. It was a great sacrifice for you to be forced to chat I know. One night you fell asleep as did everyone else in the back seat. I was getting tired so I stopped at a gas station at maybe 4am to get a coffee. When I came out there were police with flashlights looking at all of you in the car asleep. I explained that we were college debaters returning to out campus after a tournament. Honest, Sirs, they have not passed out from a drug/alcohol fuelled wild party. Since we were dressed for debates I guess he believed us. The police probably told the story back at the station about the crazy students in 3 piece suits sleeping in a car.
• About to crash in the mountains – remember waking up to the sound of the car wheels going off the road into the gravel in the mountains? Best not to think about it.
• Albruce & Maxcy a “couple”- We were called this once by Palmerary in California before a round. He seemed more nervous than usual in the debate after I threated to deck him.
• Overtime – We never did this but all our competitors did
• NDT Junior year – Our Junior year Emory vs Emory Lotito says “They are juniors, they have another chance, I am a senior”
• Unfortunately the memory I recall most vividly is our last debate. NDT, we were ranked 3rd in the eliminations. Brown – Tuna – marijuana. You gave a magnificent final rebuttal. I can still remember it so clearly. Alas 2-3 and the flowsheets closed. Mine still has that debate in it and was never reopened. Yours, however, stayed open and has shown brightly throughout the years. Debate stays in the blood. You have passed it on to so many – be proud.
Now Melissa ( I think that is your first name), dry your eyes from laughing and crying and be prepared for the serious continuing roast..
Thinking of you in the discussions in Istanbul
ALBRUCE
Melissa, I appreciate you as a old friend as well as a fine debater and outstanding coach. We first met when you were a freshman at Emory and I was a senior. For reasons best known to GP, he put us together as a team for one tournament. Even though I tried to dodge the assignment–hey, I was president of the Barkley Forum and you were this new hotshot from Houston Memorial–I remember we had a good time, became friends, and probably even won a few rounds. When I reappeared at Emory two years later as GP’s part-time assistant, you and Lilly Correa were renting a house not far off campus, and WOW! Along with a rotating cast of assorted freaky friend, we sure had some good times on weekends sitting around your backyard fire pit playing Allman Brothers and Edgar Winter albums until all hours of the night–much to the delight, I’m sure, of the retired couples who lived on either side of your place. You and I didn’t stay in close touch for several years after that, but from my outpost in Mobile I managed to keep up with your astonishing success as BF director. I say astonishing because none of us older BF folk thought you’d last! I’d like to thank you for all of the above and, finally, for being so kind and generous to my daughter Beth when she applied to Emory. Because of your advocacy, she was able to attend the college as an Emory Scholar. You and Jim and Wanda and I also got to talk about the good old days over several dinners at your home. You’re the best, Sweet Melissa.
Melissa is to debate as John Madden has been to football. My first contact with her was attending her Emory summer hs debate camp. I was just getting started then. Throughout my time as a debater she was always there in the background supporting and pulling for me. She called me and my partner Nikheel her “ninja” debaters, because we had pony tails and we approached debate, though only a game, with stealth and lethality, as if it were a martial art. Even when she wasn’t your coach and you were the team threatening to beat her own team, Melissa still acted like she was your coach and supporter. She brought so much humor to the activity and her tireless efforts to coordinate and bring opportunities to others will forever be unmatched. thank you Melissa for helping shape me and so many others for the better.
How do I love thee, my Friend, my Supervisor, my Co-worker, my Teacher and SOOOO MUCH MORE.? I love you for your compassion, your integrity, your humor, AND AGAIN, SOOOOOO MANY OTHER SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is that enough of my caps and exclamation marks?-smile. I’m so glad that you know that I only use them to emphasize the importance of that which is said and/or when I am soooo passionate about that which I’m saying. AND SO, MELISSA MAXCY WADE, I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE WITH PASSION THAT YOU HAVE MADE MY LIFE AND THE LIVES OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS AND ALL WHOM YOU’VE TOUCHED SOOOOO MUCH RICHER, IN SOOO MANY WAYS. I’ m glad that I stayed on at Emory longer than we’d both said we would. I’m so glad that you saw GOD on my tee shirt and decided to stretch the interpretation of the quote which followed-smile. I’m glad for the television watching which we did in N.Y.. Remember one of my favorite shows-smile? I’m BLESSED EVEN THE MORE to remember how much you meant in our children’s lives, esp. Tazanya and Kirk. There are SOOOO many more memories that will FOREVER be etched in my heart, in our hearts. We must do something special together one day soon. I AM SO SORRY THAT I’LL MISS YOUR ROAST. I WON’T BE ABLE TO AMEN THEM ALL-SMILE HOPE TO TALK SOON!!! MUCH, MUCH, MUCH LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Betty J. Maddox and Family
Unlike many after me, I have known Melissa as a friend and not a coach. And I have been enriched and blessed by that friendship. The fondest memories of the Barkley Forum include debating with Melissa as my partner and later helping students attend workshops before there was an UDL. Congratulations on your retirement and accomplishments as a great teacher and may this next phase of your life be equally rewarding and joyful.
Melissa,
You have opened my eyes to the wonderful world of debate. Debate has given me another way to connect with my father and I am forever grateful.
Debate has also empowered my students to use words to eloquently express themselves and has opened their mind to think critically.
Thank you and I love you!
Christopher
Melissa Maxcy Wade
Thank you for:
Making Emory’s Barkley Forum the national powerhouse of champions your mentor and your colleagues all wanted it to be – thereby reminding all that when a talented woman sets her mind to a task, she cannot be outdone.
Enlarging and preserving Emory debate traditions while implementing new ones.
Bringing the Urban Debate League to life to assure that the benefits of debate accrue to inner city high school students, to elementary and middle school student, and to tens of thousands of students worldwide.
Inspiring and enhancing the skills of such North Springs’ debaters as Tom Gallo, Geoff Hansen, Bob Havely, and Craig Johnson and hundreds of other Georgia high school debaters so that they actually became as good as their egos told them they were.
Encouraging and inspiring all of us to write and share stories and write history about our debate experiences.
“Paying forward” what your mentors gave you – absolutely no one “pays it forward” better.
Clearly, you achieved the maximum any leader can – you leave the debate world better than you found it.
Charles Clark
March 24, 2016
Dear Melissa,
Thank you for always being such a strong female role model in my life and helping me build the confidence and courage to overcome both the mundane and the extraordinary that life has thrown in my path since I was a little frosh at Emory. I feel so grateful to have had your support and will continue to take your legacy forward by applying the principles and skills I learned from you in all that I strive to do. I’m looking forward to hearing about your next adventures and wishing the very best for you and your family. Sending all my love.
Melissa, I still remember very vividly our first meeting at the summer debate workshop at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, TN–a long time ago, so let’s not mention the year! Glen Pelham sent three scared, skinny guys from Social Circle High School on a Greyhound bus to work with you for two weeks. Later, of course, I had the great honor of attending the summer debate workshops at Emory and working with you and Woodrow Leake. Anthony Griffin and I got better, but we still were more clueless than we let on. I owe you more thanks than I can express. I simply would not be where I am today without your guidance and encouragement. I wish you the very best in your retirement!
Sincerely,
Ferald Bryan
Department of Communication
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, Illinois
Melissa,
I am and will forever be so grateful for the tremendous love and guidance you gave me in molding me into who I am as a person, an attorney, a wife and most importantly as a mother.
Through your famous lunches, you reinforced many important values for me. The most memorable was when Frank Lowrey and I initiated a lunch with you to point out how unfair it was that you assigned us difficult and time consuming tasks at the Barkley Forum high school tournament when other debaters who travelled with the team just as much as we did, but were less reliable, were assigned simple tasks that were not demanding of them or their time. We thought we had an excellent concern to raise and expected your sympathy and maybe even an apology. Without even a pause you told us to get used to it because this is how things will be in life! You said that when you get a reputation in life for working hard and being reliable, more will be expected of you and that is a good thing. You told us that we should consider it a compliment! Your answer was not necessarily what we wanted to hear the week after we were so exhausted from the BFHS tournament, but it was among the best advice I have ever received. I have told the story countless times to others, because it is so true in life!
Thanks for being a wonderful role model, thanks for being such an inspiration, and thanks for always reinforcing the importance of being a mom, which I still believe is the most important role I have! Thanks for modeling the importance of the members of the BF having good and healthy relationships with each other. Thanks for establishing a culture in the BF where to this day I have several best friends that have remained my best friends and I don’t know what I would do without them! I am so proud everytime I see your name anywhere! You will always and forever be my second mother.
With all my admiration and love,
Kathy Long Mahoney ’89
Melissa,
Thank you so much for all of the guidance and inspiration you have given me since I walked through the doors to the BF so many years ago. My life has never been the same, and I will be forever grateful. Peace and love to you and Jim ~
Melissa: Congratulations on your retirement. I suspect that it is all a ruse because people like you will always be in perpetual motion–making things happen, creating the eye of the storm. Congratulations on a wonderful and accomplished career and on all the lives you have touched and enhanced. I am quite certain that you are not done. All the best, Cary
Melissa-
Great thanks for your tremendous contributions to the Barkley Forum and Emory University over the years. You will be greatly missed!
Best wishes for a happy retirement,
Dani Reiter
Thanks Melissa,
Not just for your guidance of the Barkley Forum, but for what it provided to education in debate for my daughters, Michele, and Sara, and son, Richard, beginning with their experience in high school in Americus. The competition let them know they could hold their own with the best in the nation. You are a legend. You elevated the name, Emory Barkley Forum, across the nation in higher education. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Melissa, congratulations on your retirement after many years of developing critical thinkers and extemporaneous speakers through debate. Undoubtedly, your efforts have helped many, including me, to become successful litigators. Retirement is excellent- I have been unemployed since June and thoroughly enjoy my position as Grandma! Best wishes for your future!
Melissa “Mrs. Crutches” Wade… All I can say is Thank You!
Thanks for creating the birthplace of many impactful critical thinkers across this nation. You having truly impacted the world one person at a time.
Congratulations!
Wonderful colleague, wonderful educator, wonderful mentor, wonderful visionary, wonderful mother, wonderful friend… how will Emory ever survive without you? Thanks for all you have done to make this community a place of which to be proud, and thanks for sharing your wonderful children with me.
Will miss you, much love always,
Judy
Dear Melissa,
We have shared many great moments together, from the snowstorm to the excitement of seeing the Barkley Forum become the premier force in making debate available to students from all schools and all kinds of programs. YOU have been the glue, the support system, the cheerleader, and the inspiration of generations of debaters. My debaters see you as the model of an inclusive debate coach who cared about them when them came to Emory (first as contestants and then as students) whether or not they were part of your program. To those of us in the coaching community, you have been a friend, a confidante, and an example of the highest standards we need to emulate as potential Key Coaches. You always said to us, “You honor us with your presence.” In reality, most of us felt honored to be in your presence. You have sent out into the world legions of bright, young capable people who are doing good and doing it well. Like ripples in a pond, your influence will continue to spread out in ways that you may never even know. I cannot imagine that you will “retire” in any real sense, and I am happy that your good work will continue. Lauren and I both send you our best wishes for continued happiness and success. You are one amazing force for good in our world, and I am a better person for having known you.
Affectionately,
Tim
Dear Melissa,
You are a timeless leader and the word “retirement” must make you laugh. Since 1976 when I attended the BF high school debate camp at USF, you’ve been my hero and such a deep influence on my thinking and choices. How could I have known that meeting you and being part of the BF at Emory would turn out to be one of the most defining and wonderful experiences of my life, along with marriage, children and practicing law? Thanks for recruiting me, Coach. Congratulations on everything! I know you will not be leaving the scene and I hope to stay part of it with you forever.
George
Melissa has changed so many lives. Emory’s debate program and the UDL movement have been stellar successes because of her leadership and passionate commitment. I only worked for the BF for a short time, but I’ll never forget the work or the people there. Melissa has an amazing ability to make time for big causes and the individual struggles of others. She brings out the best in people, and I’m lucky to have worked with her. We love you, Melissa. Congratulations on an amazing career!
Melissa,
I don’t know how Emory will get by without you. I know you will be terribly missed. I want to first wish you all the best, and second thank you for all you have done for me, your staff, your family, your students at Emory and all of the many other young hearts and souls that you have touched through the years. There will always be a fond place in my heart for you.
Best wishes,
John Hurlbut
Hi Melissa,
I have a very mixed feeling hearing about your upcoming retirement. I am happy for you reaching a significant milestone but I am really concerned how we can find another great teacher like you for our group! I wish you the best of luck with your retirement and enjoy it! If you are still interested in teaching our group, please let me know. We will always love to have her back!
Li-lien
Melissa has not changed since first we met in 1969. The situations and circumstances have varied through the years but her love,friendship,warmth,kindness (usually),and wisdom have been steadfast which is why I gave her my house to live in, my children to teach and debate, and every Christmas Eve at least.
I am confident that when I judged Melissa when she was a high school senior at the Barkley Forum for High Schools, I must have given her a perfect score. That is my story and I’ll stick with it because she has been scoring perfectly ever since. What shoes she filled and what shoes she is leaving. Warmest regards dear Melissa. You’ve left a difficult legacy to replace.
During my time in the BF, Melissa was both its heart and the fearless leader at its helm. Her legacy, and the rest of the BF family, will continue to shine as a beacon of intellectual courage and social justice, and as a place where young minds are enriched and empowered to become change agents in their respective corners of the universe. Melissa paved the way for so much of the BF’s growth, and in large part, made the BF all that it is today. I don’t know how to do Melissa’s commitment, leadership, or work justice here, but she has been an incredible advocate, mentor, and teacher for me, and working with her was one of the best parts of my time at Emory. She inspires me to be ambitious, courageous, and unapologetic about my vision for making a difference with my work, and I hope to do just that in the years to come. Melissa is truly an incredible woman and an invaluable role model for women in debate. Any conversation I had with her was both enlightening and like a lightning rod, fueling what I hope will continue to be a commitment to activism on my part. I have not had many female role models in my life thus far, and Melissa is someone I continuously think of when I imagine the woman I hope to become someday. Never have I met someone with such heart, natural influence, presence, or sagely wisdom; Melissa, you are truly singular and exceptional.
As Melissa often liked to remind me, you never graduate from the BF family–and the same holds true for her! Melissa–thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your guidance and wisdom the past few years. I loved having you along for the ride with my thesis, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked with you throughout my years at Emory. I cannot thank you enough for all that you have done to help me find purpose and passion in my work. I wish you all the best with your next adventure, and I know you’ll rock at whatever you do. All my love.
Melissa is tremendous! She meant a lot to me, probably more than she realized, while I was an undergraduate trying to figure out my adult self. She served as a role model for me of how a woman can be a fiercely intelligent and gifted leader. With Melissa’s influence, my debate experience became a notable thread of my intellectual development.