Lassiter invitational renamed in honor of Dr. Walter Cotter

Dr. Walter Cotter

This past Saturday, the Lassiter Invitational was renamed “The Walter Cotter Classic” after its longserving coach Dr. Walter Cotter.

Dr. Cotter served as the school’s Speech and Debate coach from 2010-2020. In 2014, he received the GFCA Speech Coach of the Year award. In that same year, he brought to Lassiter its first sweepstakes award earning 3rd Place in Speech Sweepstakes. Over the course of his tenure at Lassiter, Dr. Cotter helped bring his school four other sweepstakes awards. More specifically, he coached a total of seven State Championships in a variety of events including Lincoln Douglas Debate (2017), Program of Oral Interpretation (2017, 2020), Informative (2019), Impromptu (2015), Oratory (2015), and Student Congress (2019).

In 2020, Dr. Cotter was inducted in the GFCA Hall of Fame, which recognized his commitment to Speech and Debate not only at Lassiter but in the larger community. One nominator noted how students from Lassiter, in following Dr. Cotter’s instruction, assisted struggling debaters from other schools. As a judge around the state, Dr. Cotter is known for encouraging students to think better, speak better, and to just be better.