Jadon Buzzard
Jadon works as Head Coach and Project/Camp Manager for Ethos. He is a rising senior and the current debate team manager at Hillsdale College where he is pursuing degrees in Economics and Philosophy. Jadon is a decorated and formidable collegiate debater, placing in the top 16 at the National Forensic Association’s policy debate nationals his freshman year. He’s won Hillsdale over 40 trophies and was recently crowned parliamentary debate champion at the Gorlok Gala, one of the most competitive collegiate parliamentary tournaments in the NPDA. Jadon has experience in almost every debate format at some level or another, and he’s coached several teams that made it to late outrounds at NITOC. Read Full Bio.
Christian Fernandez
Christian Fernandez is the current Chief of Operations at Ethos Debate, as well as an adjunct professor at Patrick Henry College. As a high school student, Christian competed in Lincoln-Douglas, where he ranked nationally in 2010 and 2011. In college, he competed in Mock Trial all four years, leading several teams, earning multiple individual awards, and competing at the National Championship Tournament twice. Since 2014, Christian has taught debate and coached several students to National Championship rankings in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Moot Court, including 2019 Moot Court champions Hope Turner and Hope Rawlson. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Literature and a Master of Letters in Shakespeare and Performance. Read Full Bio
Thaddeus Tague
Thaddeus is the former head coach/owner of Ethos and resident jack-of-all trades. He’s been with the company for over 7 years now and has more coaching experience than you could ask for. He’s coached or competed in every form of debate that exists, and was a highly decorated high school debater. Just a few of his accomplishments: 2012/13 Stoa National Champion, Persuasive Speaking; 2012/13 #5 Speaks at NITOC, Team Policy; 2013/14 WUDC finalist in BP at HWS, and TKC Empire Debate; 2014/15 NPDA American Enterprise Debate Champion (alongside Jacob Vaness); 2013-2016 Ranked as top 10% international debate team in WUDC, USU, 3 years in a row.; 2014-2016 Vector Debate Coach. Coached the #1 teams in VA for 3 years. Read Full Bio
Mattis Belloncle
Mattis Belloncle was a champion-level highschool debater competing in Parliamentary debate and Team Policy debate for three years in high school. His senior year, he won four tournaments in Team Policy debate and seven first place speaker awards, culminating in a second place Team Policy finish and a first place Parliamentary finish at the 2018 National Invitational Tournament of Champions. As an undergraduate, he is competing in Mock Trial. As a coach, Mattis is focused on communicating messages through a combination of polished presentation and sound reasoning. To truly influence the listener, carefully considered logic must underpin rhetoric. The best speakers must understand how to link rhetorical prowess to rational argumentation.
Jean-Luc Belloncle
Jean-Luc Belloncle competed in Stoa for three years, during which he participated in parliamentary debate, team policy debate, and numerous speech events. In Stoa during the 2016-2017 competition season, Jean-Luc was ranked 1st nationally in Team policy speaking, and won the national title for team policy speaking at the National Invitational Tournament of Champions. In 2018, Jean-Luc was ranked 1st nationally in Team Policy debate overall, getting second place at Nationals, 3rd nationally in Team Policy speaking, 7th nationally in parliamentary debate, and 10th in Extemporaneous speaking. At the moment, Jean-Luc is attending Hillsdale college in Michigan, where he plans to double major in math and economics. He currently competes in intercollegiate mock trial. When coaching, he strives to bridge the gap between technical skills and real world application by stressing personalized communication.
Anthony Severin
Anthony has coached debaters of all ages and skill levels to national-level competitive success for nearly the past decade. Now a law student at Duke University, he started debate in 2007, graduated with an economics degree from Baylor in 2014, and worked for years in the Texas Legislature as a tax policy specialist. Professionally, he co-directs the telephonic legal aid program at Duke, which provides free legal advice to hundreds of North Carolinians on a variety of matters, including unlawful evictions and unfair debt collection. These experiences allow Anthony to challenge his students with demanding real-world scenarios that will expand their horizons beyond the trophies and tournaments.