Debate Union Wins BP Novice National Championship!

April 15, 2015

This weekend the Debate Union had two huge successes at the US Universities Debating Championship in Alaska –we won the novice national championship breakout and had two of our talented sophomores advance to elimination rounds, finishing among the top 15 teams in the nation.

Sophomores Sarah Hofmann and Junior Ndlovu were proud to have finished as octafinalists, debating in a very close round against Cornell, Middlebury, and Yale teams. This is a huge accomplishment for the sophomores, who are only finishing their second year of debating. They have a bright debate future ahead of them!

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Novice Success in Connecticut!

February 27, 2015

Last weekend in Danbury, CT the URDU attended the Northeast Regional Championship at Western Connecticut State University. We debated the best the northeast has to offer and came away with victory in the novice divisions of both Policy and BP.

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Big Wins At Ithaca For UR Debate!

February 12, 2015

This past weekend the URDU traveled to Ithaca College to attend the Sydney Landon Invitational Debate Tournament. We left on Sunday with major success in each division of both formats, British Parliamentary and Policy. This tournament also hosted the Novice National championship in BP, offering a chance for first-year debaters to show off their skills.

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The URDU Has Big Novice and JV Success in New Jersey

February 6, 2015

The URDU has shown, once again, that we have some of the most talented novice and JV policy debaters around. First off, novices Miriam Kohn and Nick Heitsch finished the tournament as Quarterfinalists, having entered elimination rounds as the fourth seed at the tournament.

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Debate Union Competes At Pan-Ams In South Beach

January 28, 2015

The Debate Union just returned from the Pan-American Debate Championship in Miami, Florida. This was a great start to the spring semester because varsity team Nick Heitsch (’17) and Chris Perkins (’17) finished as semifinalists in the tournament. This means they are tied as the fifth place team in the Western hemisphere!

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URDU VP Miriam Kohn Wins Iota Book Award

December 8, 2014

On December 1st, Debate Union Vice President Miriam Kohn received the Iota Book Award from the University of Rochester’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter. The award is given to second year students who achieve high academic standing while excelling in extra-curricular activities in their first year. Congratulations Miriam!

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Huge Success At URDU's Public Debate!

November 29, 2014

On Saturday, November 22nd, debaters from the URDU teamed up with students from several other campus organizations – including the Association for the Development of Interest in the Indian Subcontinent (ADITI), who courageously participated in the debate – to have a public debate about arranged marriage. The debaters addressed this complex issue with great care, and argued vigorously for and against a ban on the practice.

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