The Team
Coaching Staff |
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Director of Forensics – Michael Eisenstadt |
Michael Eisenstadt debated at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (B.A., 2012), where he learned the value of a diverse and talented coaching staff, a personal dedication to hard work, and the unlimited power and potential of practice in argument. While debating for UNLV, Eisenstadt became the first competitor in school history to qualify for the National Debate Tournament four times and competed in the elimination rounds of several major national tournaments. Eisenstadt was also recognized as a four-time CEDA All-American competitor. In 2012, Eisenstadt qualified to the National Debate Tournament as the top ranked individual speaker and part of the top ranked individual team in the pacific region. After debating at UNLV, he continued working for two years as an assistant debate coach at UNLV, where he completed his M.A. (2014) and was recognized as the 2014 Pacific Region Cross-Examination Debate Association Critic of the Year. Following the footsteps of his intercollegiate debate coach and his M.A. thesis advisor, Eisenstadt continued working as an assistant debate coach at the University of Kansas, where he completed his Ph.D. (2018) under the tutelage of the 1976 National Debate Tournament champion, Dr. Robert C. Rowland. Working at Kansas reinforced his lessons from UNLV, but also gave him unique insight into argument and coaching strategy, as well as directing a forensics program. Eisenstadt took the position as the Director of Forensics at CSU Long Beach in 2018 after the conclusion of an unprecedented season at the University of Kansas, which fielded the Rex Copeland top-ranked First-Round at large bid to the National Debate Tournament and the 2018 National Debate Tournament champion.
Generally speaking, Eisenstadt’s scholarly interests lie in the areas of public argumentation, political campaign debates, and the rhetorical form of social movement. Overall, with the help of the rest of an amazing coaching staff and the hard work of the team’s outstanding students, Eisenstadt hopes that Beach Forensics will consistently be one of the most competitive speech and debate programs in America. |
Director of Debate – Deven Cooper |
Deven Cooper is the Director of Debate at CSU Long Beach, where he coaches multiple formats of intercollegiate debate, including Policy, Parliamentary, IPDA, and Lincoln-Douglas. Cooper was the Cross-Examination Debate Association National Champion in 2008, a finalist at the 2009 Cross-Examination Debate Association National Championship, and a quarter-finalist at the 2009 National Debate Tournament while he attended Towson University. Prior to arriving at CSU Long Beach, Cooper obtained a Master of Arts in Communication Studies at CSU Fullerton while coaching debate, qualifying several teams to the National Debate Tournament and late elimination rounds at national tournaments. Subsequently, Cooper became the Director of Debate at Fresno State University, where he coached the first all-black female Policy Debate team in the school’s history to reach the Sweet 16 of the National Debate Tournament.
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Director of Speech – Aaron Fullman |
Aaron Fullman is the Director of Speech at CSU Long Beach and is a Southern California native who first became involved in intercollegiate speech at Orange Coast College. He competed in intercollegiate speech for four years, first at OCC, and then at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. After completing his B.A. at Bradley, Fullman attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he developed his coaching strategy and style while receiving a Master of Arts in Communication Studies. He has since returned to California to rejoin the community with which he first discovered intercollegiate speech. Fullman has experience competing in and coaching all 11 speech events offered at the collegiate level. His motto for the speech team is, “Every day. Every way. Better, better, better.” |
Alissa Duong |
Alissa Duong is a five-time national speech champion and seven-time state champion in speech, with experience that includes advancing to twenty-seven national out rounds. Duong competed and advanced to state and national out rounds in several events, including: Prose Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Programmed Oral Interpretation, Persuasive Speaking, Communication Analysis, and After Dinner Speaking. She was ranked the 4th overall speaker in the nation at the Phi Rho Pi National Speech and Debate Tournament and was selected to be a member of the exclusive All-American Team at the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament of Champions. Duong received her A.A. in Communication Studies from Orange Coast College and her B.S. from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Communication Studies with a minor in Political Science. She is currently working toward a Master of Arts in Communication Studies at CSU Long Beach and is happy to be a graduate assistant working with Beach Forensics. |
Dorri Mang |
Dorri Mang is a graduate student in the Communication Studies Department CSU Long Beach. This is her sixth year of involvement with forensics. Mang first competed for Orange Coast College before completing her B.A. at CSU Long Beach. At CSU Long Beach, Mang teaches public speaking courses and works in the Hauth Center, which helps students across campus develop presentation skills. In addition to coaching at CSU Long Beach, she also coaches speech at Harker High School in northern California and works for a speech academy, Modern Brain, where she teaches and coaches K-12 students. In Mang’s spare time, she plays roller derby and roller skates around Long Beach with her girlfriend. Mang believes that communication is important to all human interactions, and she is working to do her part to teach the next generation how to take information and think critically about their opinions instead of simply regurgitating with others have said. |
Christiaan Pipion |
Christiaan Pipion is a second year M.A. student in the Communication Studies Department and a Graduate Assistant for Beach Forensics. As an undergraduate, he competed in Duo Interpretation, Programmed Oral Interpretation, Informative Speaking, Prose Interpretation, After Dinner Speaking, Reader’s Theater, and Parliamentary Debate. Pipion enjoys speech and debate because it has helped his growth as a speaker, critical thinking, and provided him a better understanding for how to speak in a variety of situations. Most important, though, is Pipion has fun competing and coaching. He has seen many speeches that he will remember for the rest of his life, and tributes forensics for being an incredible opportunity for personal and academic growth. In Pipion’s view, nothing can help someone more to prepare for whatever comes next than competing in forensics. |
Abdullah Salehuddin |
Abdullah Salehuddin is a M.A. student in the Communication Studies Department and a Graduate Assistant for Beach Forensics. He received his B.A. in Rhetoric at UC Berkeley with an emphasis in imagery and narratology. Salehuddin had a successful career in intercollegiate speech. While at Los Angeles Valley College, he was the 2016 California State Champion in Persuasive Speaking and the 2016 National Champion in Informative Speaking. Trophies aside, Salehuddin reminds his students that the true value of competing in forensics comes in the form of transferable skills: critical thinking, public speaking, information processing, analytical writing, and active listening. He hopes to continue teaching these skills and values to members of Beach Forensics as a way to empower students from all backgrounds and skill levels to find their voices. |