The Speech and Debate Program at UCD is a co-curricular, intercollegiate activity which provides students with intensive training in oral and written expression. The program provides Davis students with the opportunity to improve their persuasive and argumentative skills by participating in tournaments with students from other California and U.S. universities. Events offered by these tournaments typically include parliamentary debate, dramatic interpretation, extemporaneous speaking, impromptu speaking, and persuasive speaking.

The program is sponsored by the Department of English and supported by the College of Letters and Science, the Division of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies and the Division of Social Sciences.