The Elton Abernathy Forensics Society, Texas State’s competitive speech team, is named for Prof. Elton Abernathy, a long-time chair of the department and former Director of Forensics. We are members of the American Forensics Association (AFA), the National Forensics Association (NFA) and Pi Kappa Delta (PKD).
Wayne Kraemer is the Director of Forensics at Texas State University. He is the Executive Secretary and past President of the Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association (TIFA). He served as the Operations Manager for the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) National Tournament and for 28 years served as the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Debate Consultant. Kraemer has been honored as the TIFA Educator of the Year and Texas Speech Communication Association (TSCA) Educator of the year. He has also received the Brownlee Award from CEDA for service, the Norton Award from Pi Kappa Delta for coaching, and the Texas State Presidential Award for Excellence in Service.
Jeremy Hutchins is the Associate Director of Forensics for Texas State and primary debate coach for the team. Hutchins is currently the President of the Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association (TIFA) and has received the association’s Educator of the Year Award. He has directed the University Interscholastic League’s Region IV-AAA regional speech tournament and has also served on the tournament staff of the UIL’s Cross-Examination and Lincoln-Douglas State Championships. Before his tenure at Texas State, Jeremy directed programs at Wharton County Junior College (TX) and Johnson Country Community College (KS), where his teams earned national honors at the Phi Rho Pi National Tournament. Mr. Hutchins received his MA from Texas State and is thrilled to be back in San Marcos.
