History of the AFA - NIET
The beginnings of the AFA-NIET can be traced back to 1972, when the leadership of the American Forensic Association recognized that to be truly representative of the forensic community, the AFA should support those persons interested in individual events. Dr. Jerry M. Anderson and E.R. Tame proposed a constitutional change in 1972, which would broaden the AFA purpose to include individual events. The membership passed this change in 1973. Other events in 1972 included the appointment of E.R. Tame as chair of the Education Practices Committee, which began the consideration of how to include more emphasis on forensic activity and have other national championship tournaments, beyond debate, sponsored by AFA. Based upon this early work, the membership of the AFA voted in 1973 to create a National Individual Events Tournament Committee.
During the period between 1973 and 1976, the committee, under the leadership of Dr. Jack Rhodes, investigated such issues as judging criteria, standardized rules, journal coverage, and tournament management and guidelines. In July of 1976, Dr. James Weaver, president of the AFA, appointed Professor Larry Schnoor of Mankato State University to chair the NIET Committee. The initial committee was comprised of the following individuals:
| Ross Andrusko | - Geneva College | Jack Howe | - Long Beach State University | |
| James Benson | - Ball State University | Alice Jaswal | - Nebraska Wesleyan University | |
| Gary Coulter | - Stanford University | Don Nichols | - Odessa College | |
| Richard Dean | - East Tennessee State Univ. | Don Swanson | - University of Southern Colorado | |
| John Gregg | - St. John’s University | Jean Ward | - Lewis & Clark University |
It was decided to have the first tournament in April of 1978. The AFA-NIET chair, Professor Larry Schnoor, worked with the committee to develop the tournament structure, rules, procedures for qualifying, and tournament management. Dr. James Pratt of the University of Wisconsin - River Falls was appointed to be the first tournament director. Dr. Pratt and Professor Schnoor worked closely together to bring about the first AFA-NIET, hosted by Illinois State University.
The first tournament was attended by approximately 168 students from 59 schools. There were 296 entries at the tournament. Various changes in the concept of the tournament were approved at the meeting of the committee in Illinois to take effect with the 1979 tournament. The committee membership reelected Professor Schnoor as chair of the NIET. The work of the committee during the following year was to draft a charter for the AFA-NIET, which was approved by the membership of the AFA at its general meeting during the AFA-SCA convention in Minneapolis, MN, in November 1978.
The AFA-NIET has demonstrated significant growth since its beginnings. A total of seven schools have been present at all of the tournaments: Bethel College (KS); Bradley University (IL); George Mason University (VA); Kansas State University (KS); Minnesota State, Mankato (MN); University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire (WI); and the United States Air Force Academy (CO). The AFA-NIET has and is continuing to play a significant part in the development of individual events.
