Meet the Leadership Team
Faculty Advisor
Mark Huppin, J.D., Ph.D.
Professor Huppin was an undergrad student at UCLA and got his law degree from Stanford. After working in the biggest law firm in Silicon Valley he returned to UCLA for a Ph.D. in Psychology. He is now a communications professor and debate team advisor.
Head Coach
Naomi Panovka
Naomi Panovka has had an impactful career in British Parliamentary debate and is the head coach for UCLA. To date, she has won the 2021 North American Universities Debating Championships, won first and second best speaker debating alone at the 2020 championships, advanced to finals at the European Debating Championships, won second best speaker at the 2022 Worlds Universities Debating Championships and earned many more accomplishments than we can list.
Captain
Ellena Kim
Ellena is a third year from Los Angeles, California. She is a prelaw Political Science major who also serves on the executive board of UCLA’s Asian American Prelaw Society. When she’s not debating, Ellena enjoys going to escape rooms and theme parks.
Captain
Thej Mallu
Description to come.
Competitive Director
Belle Ho
Belle is a fourth year studying Data Theory. She’s debated for UCLA since her freshman year. She is our competitive director who takes tournaments really seriously (definitely no drinking before rounds)! Instead of online tournaments, she wishes to spend her weekends this year touching grass and developing new hobbies like photography!
Tournament Director
Cayden Pocrass
Cayden is a third-year public affairs major from Santa Clarita, CA. In their free time, they do digital photography, play strategy games, cook and walk aimlessly around the city.
Outreach Director
Clarissa Zuo
Clarissa is a second year physics major from Los Angeles County. She's excited to contribute to the team's outreach effort and connect with UCLA debaters from freshmen to alumni. She likes: sci-fi, climbing, and thinking about physics. She dislikes: days above 80 degrees and opponents that accept zero POIs.
Training Director
Michael Goldberg
Michael is a third year from San Diego studying Business Economics with a minor in Social Data Science. He’s excited to begin his third year in UCLA Debate as the Training Director. His hobbies include traveling, thrifting, and yapping about economics whenever he can.
Logistics Director
Richard Colgrove
Description to come.
Operations Director
Alba Borrego
Description to come.
Logistics Director
Mert Turna
Description to come.
Debate Union at UCLA
Join us at practice from 6-8 PM on Tuesdays. Go to our linktree for easy access to our links.
Quick Links
Debate Union at UCLA since 1920.