Teams from 19 cities compete at the 2010 Chase Urban Debate National Championship

Chicago debaters crowned Urban Debate National Champions

Chicago debaters Misael Gonzales and Kevin Hirn took the top prize at the Chase Urban Debate National Championship. But for Misael, from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, this was the crowning achievement for a team that has achieved success in debate competitions both locally and nationally. His record of success, along with Kevin, demonstrates the potential for Urban Debate Leagues to open pathways to success: when first given the opportunity to debate in UDLs, students can excel at every opportunity open to them.

Misael joined debate as a sophomore. Like many debaters who participate in the Chicago Debate League, Misael benefited from the large UDL’s breadth of competition. He began by debating against CDL teams from the greater Chicago metro area, but soon came to compete against some of the best teams from across the nation. For Misael, the opportunity to compete as widely as possible and against the best competitors in the nation ensures that debaters’ become stronger. He maintains that no one should be held back by the idea that UDL students can’t or shouldn’t also compete against teams from private schools or well-funded suburban schools. This year was Misael’s second time competing at the Chase Urban Debate National Championship, where he noted an even stronger national field than last year.

Misael credits the connections to college students and faculty made at summer debate institutes with helping his college search. Thanks to the generosity of his extended family and scholarships, including one won at the 2009 Chase Urban Debate National Championship, Misael was able to attend several debate institutes during high school, including the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan.

Next fall, Misael will attend Trinity University in Texas, supported by a debate scholarship. He plans to study political science and journalism, an ambitious course he knows will be made easier by the skills he learned in debate, especially the ability to synthesize information and arguments, rendering many academic tasks “beyond easy.” He looks forward to facing new challenges in college debate and to continuing to support urban debate.

Students Showcase Communication Skills in the Arthur N. Rupe Public Debate Series

This year, the Championship Weekend featured the inaugural Arthur N. Rupe Public Debate Series and Demonstration Debate. In the Public Debate Series, all 76 National Championship debaters competed in a series of debates that tested their persuasiveness and ability to appeal to a general audience while engaging in a rigorous debate on policy. Six top debaters were selected for the Arthur N. Rupe Public Demonstration Debate. The students debated a special topic: The United States federal government should devolve power to the state governments and relevant territories to provide health care to persons living in poverty. The NAUDL congratulates all six participants. Each received a scholarship provided by the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation.

The NAUDL thanks the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation for its generous support of urban debate. The Arthur N. Rupe Foundation is dedicated to achieving positive social change by shining the light of truth on critical and controversial issues through the support of scholarly studies, education, research, and public debates, and by the dissemination of the results via a variety of media to all segments of the public.

Penny Pritzker Delivers Keynote Address at the 2010 NAUDL Annual Dinner

Concurrent with the 2010 Chase Urban Debate National Championship, the NAUDL hosted its third Annual Dinner on April 22, 2010. Over 300 supporters and guests joined the NAUDL at the world-renowned Waldorf-Astoria.

The Annual Dinner Keynote Address was delivered by celebrated business leader and NAUDL Honorary Board member Penny Pritzker, who encouraged Annual Dinner guests to become engaged citizens in their communities. Ms. Pritzker's central message was that in times of economic turmoil, the United States faces an imperative to reshape the field of education in order to prepare future citizens to compete globally.

Students and professionals alike drew encouragement from Ms. Pritzker's descriptions of successful educational interventions, including some of her own work, both locally in Chicago and nationally.

Following the Keynote Address, the NAUDL honored Chase with the 2010 Urban Debate Champion Award for the company's landmark support and instrumental role in strengthening the Urban Debate Network. Finally, the NAUDL recognized Edward W. Lee, Director of Debate at Emory University, as the Urban Debate Alumnus of the Year.

David Boren and General Wesley Clark Join the NAUDL Honorary Board

The NAUDL is proud to announce the addition of two highly-respected public servants to its Honorary Board: David L. Boren and General (Ret.) Wesley K. Clark.

David L. Boren is the President of the University of Oklahoma. Before becoming President of the University in 1994, Mr. Boren served as Governor of Oklahoma, following terms in the Oklahoma state legislature and the U.S. Senate, where he served on the Finance and Agriculture Committees and chaired the Select Committee on Intelligence. Boren has also been active in philanthropy, founding the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence in 1985 to recognize and support outstanding public school students and teachers. Mr. Boren is a former debater and a proud supporter of the University of Oklahoma debate team, which has captured the CEDA National Debate Championship three out of the past four years.

General (Ret.) Wesley K. Clark served in the United States Army for 34 years, rising to the rank of four-star general and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. He is the recipient of numerous U.S. and foreign military awards, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. In August 2000, Clark was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. General Clark is now active in the private sector, where, among other activities, he leads the eponymous political action committee WesPAC. He is also a Senior Fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations. General Clark was a decorated debater in high school and college, where he represented the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Houston UDL Off to an Impressive Start

When a group of former debaters and Houstonians met in late 2007 to discuss what they could do to help rebuild the city’s storied yet fading debate tradition, they were just beginning to figure out where to start. Looking back today, they can hardly believe how much their idea has grown. In just over two years, the Houston Urban Debate League (HUDL) has expanded from a small grassroots effort to a broad-based community initiative. HUDL brings together public and private leaders and the support of countless volunteers to bring policy debate back to Houston. Only two years after launching, HUDL had 800 Houston students competing, with some traveling to regional and national circuit tournaments, and even more students more exposed to debate during debate classes. Together, HUDL and the Houston Independent School District (HISD) have forged a powerful partnership that is transforming the lives of students. How have they done it?

Since its launch, HUDL has witnessed impressive growth and increasing competitive success, buoyed by the support of a wide range of talented, hard-working stakeholders, from teachers and administrators to private sector leaders. This past season, HUDL nearly quadrupled student participation, growing from 230 students the previous year to 800 students in 2009-2010. In fact, HUDL tournaments ranked among the largest policy debate events in Texas, comparable in size to state-wide competitions.

HUDL’s impressive growth is matched in the quality of competition HUDL debaters bring. At the Chase Urban Debate National Championship this April, both HUDL teams qualified for elimination rounds, and Robert Torres of North Houston Early College High School ranked tenth in the nation among 76 speakers at the tournament. HUDL debaters are branching out into other competitive circuits as well. This year, HUDL teams competed for the first time on regional and state circuits, often breaking to elimination rounds at highly competitive tournaments. In one instance, HUDL debaters won the Championship Division of a Texas Forensic Association tournament with an undefeated record.

As one of the UDLs supported through the NAUDL’s Expansion Plan, one key to Houston’s success is the public-private partnership approach that the NAUDL emphasizes in each UDL it builds, including Houston. The HUDL, a local nonprofit organization led by civic and business leaders, partners with HISD. HISD’s leadership understand the value of debate and its alignment with their secondary instruction priorities.

HUDL teacher-coaches are the bedrock of the program’s success, committing countless hours during and after school to provide instruction and to travel with students to weekend tournaments and seminars. The positive impact of teacher-coaches extends beyond HUDL events. Motivated by the academic growth they see in their students and classrooms, teacher-coaches have successfully lobbied their schools to offer formally debate and argumentation classes. For many students, these classes offer an introduction to debate that yields many of the benefits of competition without the demanding schedule. For competitive debaters, the classes provide an opportunity to study argumentation in more detail than at tournaments and after-school practices alone, helping them compete at an increasingly advanced level.

HUDL leaders also point to their summer institute as a cornerstone of strong programming. This year, HUDL will expand its week-long intensive summer debate institute to serve over 200 students. The summer institute not only trains debate skills, but more generally offers an enriching academic opportunity for students to continue learning over the summer. Beyond its obvious academic and competitive benefits, the institute also builds community. Debaters from across the district form bonds during the institute that keep them coming back to competitions throughout the year. Students also note the camaraderie and sense of teamwork, citing new friendships as one of their key reasons for joining HUDL. Debaters will always want to win, but when debaters know each other and feel like members of a support network, the pressure to win is never as great as their desire to make competitive gains as a community.

That community—from students and educators to city leaders and volunteers—is the reason for the Houston Urban Debate League’s energetic growth. Although still a young league with room to grow and develop, this cooperative spirit has laid the foundation for the successful reemergence of debate in Houston public schools.

News around the network

Bay Area

League Director Blake Johnson is leaving the Bay Area Urban Debate League (BAUDL) to return to Oklahoma, where he hopes to carry forward the mission of urban debate by working with the NAUDL and local stakeholders to create a UDL in his home state while preparing himself for law school. Blake writes that he is tremendously proud of what the BAUDL has accomplished in serving several hundred high school students over the two years during which he worked with the organization. He is excited to see the organization continue to expand its reach and influence in the coming years.

Boston

Boston Public Schools (BPS), even in these tough times for public school budgets, increased their funding of the Boston Debate League (BDL) by more than three times (from $54K to $170K). BPS views urban debate as aligned with and a cost-effective mechanism to promote the BPS Acceleration Agenda priorities, including improving graduation rates, college-readiness, and analytical writing, as well as closing the achievement gap.

Chicago

This year, the Chicago Debate League welcomed its fourth guest school from the Chicago area, Champaign Central High School. Champaign Central fully participated in all CDL activities throughout the year, traveling the 140 miles north to Chicago for each coach training session and every tournament. According to Les Lynn, CDC Executive Director, “An increasing number of schools outside Chicago are interested in what the CDL is doing and attracted to the impact that involvement with it can have on their students. Guest schools in the CDL indicate a center of gravity for competitive academic debate programming within the city of Chicago.”

Dallas

The NAUDL wishes League Director Kason Kimberley well as he departs from his position with the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance (DUDA) and heads to Officer Candidate School for the U.S. Army and the Texas Army National Guard. He will begin on a full scholarship at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas in the fall of 2011.

Nicole Serrano will join DUDA as its new Director. Nicole is a former debate coach at Lexington High School and Montgomery Bell Academy. Nicole says, “The Dallas UDL is particularly a dream come true, because I think I can reach out to families like my own, where language has been a challenge, and see their students wield the English language with ease to conquer whatever may be their next challenge.”

Denver

The Denver UDL is proud to announce that three of its graduating seniors are recipients of the prestigious Daniels Scholarship, one of the highest regional honors. Jessica Galvan and Sandy Nuñez of Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College, and Reuben Aguirre of West High School are each recipients of this great honor, which pays all expenses (after other scholarships and financial aid) to any institution of their choosing. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College team is coached by Rachel Bruche. Feliz Armijo is the coach at West High School.

Kansas City