Dear Friends of the NAUDL,

Looking back at another remarkable year at the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL), I am amazed at what our supporters have helped us to accomplish.

Let me start by inviting you to this year's Chase Urban Debate National Championship and NAUDL Annual Dinner. The Championship weekend begins on the evening of Thursday, April 23, 2009 and concludes on Sunday, April 26. The Annual Dinner will take place on the evening of Saturday, April 25. The inaugural National Championship and Annual Dinner in 2008 were a resounding success, and we hope to build an even more exciting event this year. I hope that you'll save the date and attend. For more details, contact Eric Tucker at the NAUDL at 312-427-0152 or EricTucker@UrbanDebate.org.

This year's Annual Dinner will be held at the world-renowned Art Institute of Chicago. Guests will have the opportunity to dine in the Stock Exchange Trading Room (a Historical Landmark that is a salvaged reconstruction of the original Chicago Stock Exchange), participate in the Championship Awards Ceremony, and reconnect with old friends. They will also hear a Keynote Address delivered by none other than David Boies, founding partner and Chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP and NAUDL Honorary Board Member. A former high school and college debater, Mr. Boies has taken part in many of the United States' most influential and noteworthy cases during his brilliant career, including Vice President Al Gore's legal challenges of the 2000 Florida election returns before the United States and Florida Supreme Courts.

Supporters of the NAUDL have helped create opportunities to debate for thousands of additional urban students nationwide. The NAUDL has worked with our partners across the country to launch eight new Urban Debate Leagues (UDLs) in the Bay Area, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, St. Louis, and Tampa. We have also strengthened the existing Leagues in Boston and Detroit. With nearly 100 new schools beginning urban debate programs this fall season, we are on track to achieve something remarkable. I encourage you to track the progress for yourself on the NAUDL's new interactive UDL map.

Click the map to see the growth for yourself

But, our work is hardly finished. Students from over 75% of the 100 largest urban school systems in the U.S. still have no access to debate. Over the coming years, with the help of our supporters, the NAUDL seeks to build over 15 additional UDLs, strengthen an additional four UDLs, add over 650 schools to the Urban Debate Network, and serve an additional 10,000 students per year. That is 10,000 students whose lives and futures will be transformed because of urban debate.

On behalf of the NAUDL, I cannot emphasize enough how grateful we are to our supporters and to the many people working hard on the ground in UDLs to improve the lives of youth in their communities. This generosity makes it possible for disadvantaged urban students to overcome the barriers that too often define their options and to prepare for successful futures.

I look forward to sharing more good news with you in the coming year.

Warmest regards,

Leonard A. Gail
Chairman of the NAUDL Board