Urban Debaters Go to the Oval Office
In his back-to-school address last year, President Obama told students, "Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team." Recently, the President met with a group of urban debaters who have taken that advice to heart. These young leaders from UDLs are proving that when the playing field is level, all students have the potential to make academic strides, to graduate from high school, to go to college, and even to find themselves in the Oval Office - today as visitors, perhaps tomorrow as hosts.
On July 22, President Obama welcomed to the Oval Office Misael Gonzalez and Kevin Hirn, the 2010 Urban Debate National Champions from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago, as well as Shagun Kukreja from University High School in New Jersey and Michael Barlow from Grady High School in Atlanta. Along with Hirn, Kukreja and Barlow were the top three individual speakers from the Urban Debate National Championship tournament.
Misael Gonzalez, a recent graduate of the First Lady’s alma mater Whitney Young High School, explained the difficulties he had when preparing a standpoint that was different from his own. The President empathized and stressed the importance of seeing both sides of all arguments. Gonzalez will soon be a first-generation college student when he attends Trinity University in the fall with a full debate scholarship.
Kevin Hirn, explained, "to be in the very city in which every second a big decision is made, and to meet the person that makes it all happen - it’s amazing." Hirn, who will attend Wake Forest University in the fall on a full debate scholarship, intends to study economics and is considering working with DC think tanks and national economic policy.
In addition to meeting the President, the students met members of Congress and other national leaders such as National Economic Council Director Larry Summers (Right), many former debaters themselves. Seeing former debaters become so influential in Washington awed Shagun Kukreja, who told an audience of lawmakers, "Looking out at all of you who were once where I am today - a high school debater - I see my future in your eyes."
Looking back on the whole trip, Michael Barlow commented, "If I could sum up the DC trip into one word, I would say - Unbelievable! Meeting the President was a dream come true. Especially, since he has been a source of inspiration for me to work hard and to believe anything is possible if I put my mind to it."
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