Remembering Billy Tate

Mr. Tate’s long time MBA colleague and friend, Mr. Dennis De Young, shared this tribute that captures much of what everyone above knew about Billy:

A Tribute to Billy Tate

Billy and I were colleagues for more than thirty years and best friends for twenty years. We first met at a debate tournament in the early 1980’s, when I was a the coach at Savannah Country Day School. Soon thereafter he invited our school to compete at the annual Southern Bell Debate Tournament at MBA.

I had heard about how wonderful this tournament was, but the experience far exceeded my expectations. Billy and the MBA team were consummate hosts. Most tournaments are like staying in a Holiday Inn. The Southern Bell is the Ritz. That weekend I discovered one hallmark of Billy’s character: He was the most hospitable person I had ever known. The food, parties, entertainment, and friendly atmosphere were the equal of all other debate tournaments combined. Since the event was by invitation only, it was also a great weekend of fierce debating and excellent judging.

The Southern Bell’s tough competition was a reflection of another trait of Billy’s character. He wanted MBA’s team to be the best and expected his debaters to win. Once again it was while I was in Savannah that I realized that he was a fierce competitor. At a tournament in Calhoun, GA, MBA had finalist teams in the novice and varsity debate finals. My school also had finalist teams in novice and varsity. Since the final round would not begin until after midnight (early Sunday morning), our host asked both coaches if they wanted the MBA and Savannah teams declared co-champions. This was a common practice at tournaments which ran very late. Billy and I, however, declined, the rounds proceeded,  and we left at 2:30 A.M. Billy wanted his teams to compete because he knew that heated competition and constant practice produced students who excelled at public speaking.

I learned the extent of that commitment when I joined the MBA faculty in 1990.  Billy not only produced great speakers and debaters for intramural competition, he also taught (at some point) every student who attended MBA. A semester of speech was then a requirement for graduation. This ensured that every student had to stand before an audience and give a speech. In this way Billy “touched the lives” of hundreds of students by gently prodding  their backsides to force them to stand up and speak. Billy’s dedication to speech and debate was complete. He would help any student who wanted to improve. He also made sure that students who excelled at speech and debate could compete at the highest levels. He also made sure that MBA had assistant coaches who would help him keep MBA’s teams nationally competitive. Their combined efforts resulted in MBA students winning local (i.e. Alabama), regional, and national championships. Billy not only served MBA by promoting speech, he also extended his commitment to forensics nationwide by serving as an officer for the National Forensic League. He was its president for twelve years before stepping down last year.

Billy Tate, more than any other person on the faculty, gave MBA the nationwide recognition that it enjoys today. Debaters and coaches from schools all over the country knew about MBA because of Billy and the great teams and public speakers that he coached. I will always remember his graciousness, hospitality, friendship, and complete devotion to public speaking.

Goodbye, dear friend!

-Dennis De Young