Chase Urban Debate National Championship

The NAUDL is proud to announce the third Chase Urban Debate National Championship, taking place April 23-25, 2010. This year's National Championship will be held for the first time in New York, NY. The Championship has been made possible by Chase, which will once again be the title sponsor of the tournament.

The National Championship brings together the best debaters from the nation's Urban Debate Leagues (UDLs) for a weekend event hosted in New York City. The tournament and its associated weekend activities will showcase the vibrancy and success of the Urban Debate Network and elevate its stature. The top performing student teams, along with teachers, administrators, and local UDL Advisory Board members, will attend from UDL cities across the country. Participants will have the opportunity to compete, share knowledge, and build connections. The event will foster and recognize excellence in urban debate, facilitate meaningful professional growth for urban debate educators, strengthen connections in the Urban Debate Network, and cultivate urban youth leadership.

Along with the National Championship, the NAUDL will sponsor a series of formal conferencing sessions with teachers and UDL Directors to share best practices in urban debate. Teachers can expect to come away from the weekend with new techniques to coach debate, and Directors can expect to learn and share new expertise on running UDLs.

The NAUDL will once again hold its Annual Dinner in conjunction with the tournament. The Dinner provides an opportunity for supporters of urban debate around the country to connect with other guests from the education, business, legal, academic, and philanthropic communities. This year's Annual Dinner will be held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

The 2010 Annual Dinner Keynote Speech will be given by renowned business leader and NAUDL Honorary Board member Penny Pritzker. Ms. Pritzker is a civic and policy leader in many arenas, including serving as a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. During President Obama's presidential campaign, Ms. Pritzker served as National Finance Chair. Additionally, this year's Annual Dinner will honor Chase with the NAUDL's 2010 Urban Debate Champion Award for the company's landmark support and instrumental role in strengthening the Urban Debate Network. This is the third year that Chase has been the title sponsor of the Urban Debate National Championship - the NAUDL's signature event.

Invitation to Judge the Arthur N. Rupe Public Debate Series at the Urban Debate National Championships

The NAUDL would like to extend the invitation to directly participate in the Urban Debate National Championship as a judge in the Arthur N. Rupe Public Debate Series. The Public Debate Series brings students across the country together to discuss pressing policy and social issues, culminating in a final round in front of a large audience of business leaders, policy-makers, urban debate supporters, educators, and students from around the country. The preliminary public debates will be held the morning of Friday, April 23rd, with the Public Debate Championship taking place Saturday evening. If you have never previously judged or been involved in debate, the Public Debate Series provides a unique opportunity for you to engage the activity and the dedicated urban students whom it benefits. Those with limited prior experience are encouraged to judge and will receive basic training on how to evaluate debates. We sincerely hope you consider judging the Public Debate Series so that you may experience first-hand the impact of debate on urban youth.

Please write Eric Tucker, Interim Executive Director of the NAUDL, at erictucker@urbandebate.org to express your interest in judging either the Arthur N. Rupe Public Debate Series or the policy debates at the Urban Debate National Championship.

For a recap of the 2009 National Championship, click here.