Khamani Griffin is the new Assistant Debate Coach and Assistant Director of Debate on both the Upper and Middle School campuses.

Griffin previously worked as a part-time assistant debate coach who worked with nationally competitive World Schools Debate teams. As the Assistant Director of Debate, he will manage Middle School debate operations and focus on the growing Lincoln-Douglas debate program. At the Upper School, Griffin will continue coaching the debate teams.

Griffin spent eight years coaching speech and debate, starting as an assistant coach at his high school. Griffin said he wants to teach students core life skills  through debate. He said he will focus on helping define a healthy culture of inclusivity, fun and excellence for the debaters, letting students explore whatever niche they seek at school.      

“I wanted to do what I could to cater to a group of students that I knew would utilize the skills from speech and debate to be successful in their respective programs,” Griffin said. “The main thing that I want us to focus on this year is to be engaging and accepting of perspectives that are not their own and to foster a sense of curiosity.”

Griffin said he hopes to increase communication between the debate team and the school in order to make debate feel more open and approachable to everyone.

“I am looking forward to letting the Harvard-Westlake community know how strong and connected our debate team is,” Griffin said. “I am excited to encourage more of the community to become engaged in debate, and I feel like that communications pipeline is being established this year.”

Through the team’s successes,  Griffin said he hopes the team is able to increase their presence on campus.

‘We are excited that our team’s success can increase visibility within the community, showing that debate can empower more students to foster and lead meaningful discussions.”