Busy Winter Break For UR Debate Union

This winter the debate union traveled thousands of miles to compete at THREE debate tournaments! Two teams traveled to Los Angeles, California to compete at USC and CSU-Fullerton, and another team and student judge traveled to the World Universities Debating Championship in The Hague, Netherlands. We learned a lot and had a lot of fun at each.

In southern California, novice debater Anthony Pericolo debated in a higher division with partner Dan Gomez. They had tough competition, but got to grow their skills and argument knowledge through that competition. Cedric Bonsol and Tobi Abubakare debated hard in the most competitive division at the tournaments, and ended with 3-3 records at both. They got to debate teams that they do not often compete against from all over the country, and feel prepared to forge ahead into the spring!

Cedric and Tobi debating (L), and Anthony and Dan debating (R) in California.

Across the Atlantic in The Hague, debaters Miriam Kohn and Chris Perkins, and student judge Syed Reefat Aziz, attended the most competitive debate competition in the world. Kohn and Perkins finished only one point below breaking into elimination rounds, an inspiring performance for the URDU after several years away from this tournament. After an excellent performance judging debates, Aziz was invited to adjudicate the elimination rounds of the tournament – a huge honor.

Chris and Miriam at WUDC (L) and Syed Reefat Aziz judging (R, center)

These two tournaments were excellent starts to our first semester of 2017. Look out for more updates – we’ll be traveling to at least ten competitions this semester!