As collegiate debates go, the one in Wichita, Kan., was already getting out of hand when Fort Hays State University's debating coach, bearded and barefoot, decided to go where few scholars have gone.

In a YouTube video that has sparked a firestorm and investigations by two universities, professor William "Bill" Shanahan III pulled down his pants and exposed his underwear to his counterpart from the University of Pittsburgh, in view of startled students and faculty who were in the room.

The "mooning" capped an obscenity-laden shouting match between the two that turned part of a national debate tournament into a scene right out of "The Jerry Springer Show." Spectators stepped in to separate Dr. Shanahan from Pitt's debate coach, Shanara R. Reid-Brinkley, and at one point someone off-camera is heard saying, "You better chill out."

The episode occurred in March at a tournament sponsored by the Cross Examination Debate Association, or CEDA, and went virtually unnoticed by the public for months. That changed after the YouTube posting a week ago became a hit, getting 124,000 views as of yesterday and becoming the subject of news stories nationwide.

Officials at both universities yesterday said they were investigating.

"We're aware of the situation. We are looking into it and have no further comment," Pitt spokesman John Fedele said.

Fort Hays Provost Larry Gould said Dr. Shanahan, an assistant professor of communication studies and university employee for 13 years, is a brilliant, somewhat maverick faculty member who led his debate team to a national championship in 1999. Though collegiate debates in some quarters have become less formal, and in some people's view more aggressive, Dr. Gould said that does not excuse what he saw.

He said both parties appeared to be at fault and presumably knew cameras were rolling.

"Fort Hays does not condone the language or the behavior in that video," he said.

Calls and e-mails yesterday were not returned by Dr. Shanahan or by Dr. Reid-Brinkley, an assistant professor of communication whom Mr. Fedele said came to Pitt a year ago from the University of Georgia.

Pitt students were among debaters from about 70 universities in the tournament and had already been eliminated when debaters from Fort Hays in Hays, Kan., and Towson University in Towson, Md., began their match in a hotel ballroom, said Jeffrey Jarman, CEDA's executive secretary.

He said the argument erupted in the postdebate round over an earlier, successful effort by the Fort Hays team to remove Dr. Reid-Brinkley as one of the debate judges. At least one other judge was also removed.

Teams can seek a judge's removal, and Fort Hays cited as its reason an earlier low score she had given the team, Mr. Jarman said. But the Towson debaters argued during the contest that removing an African-American judge was the latest example of racism in debating, he said.

After Dr. Reid-Brinkley characterized Dr. Shanahan as being out of line, he leapt to his feet, shouted "It's not my place to be part of this debate" and ran up to confront her, jumping up and down as the two yelled at each other. Thirty-seven seconds into the nine-minute video, he turns his backside toward her and lowers his pants.

"Sometimes, people care so much that it bubbles over. I'm not ashamed of my behavior," he later says in the video. "I don't think I'm acting immaturely. I think I'm showing how much I care about everybody in this room."

Dan Shea, director of Allegheny College's Center for Political Participation, said the confrontation is unfortunate in an age when it's already tough for faculty to get students to engage in civil discourse. He said technology is bringing out raw and previously seldom-seen aspects of life.

"It's possible these sorts of things have happened often, but they weren't brought to our attention," he said. "YouTube brings these sorts of things into our living rooms."