Season Kicks Off For URDU

The UR Debate Union 2017-18 season is underway, and September was jam-packed with Debate action as URDU competed in three tournament during the month.

To start off our season in September, the University of Rochester Debate Union was very lucky to be able to host our annual Brad Smith Debate Tournament as the Northeast Regional Opener Tournament. We name our tournament after H. Brad Smith, a longtime devoted supporter of the URDU. Brad was with us this weekend and, as usual, able to judge some debates. His passion for teaching new students debate was visible throughout the competition as first-time debaters from all over the Northeast addressed complex topics ranging from healthcare policy to the ethics of documentary filmmaking and immigration policy. 

Anthony and Ben Debate at Brad Smith Debate Tournament

We had over 300 attendees on campus this weekend from more than twenty higher education institutions. We also hosted three different divisions of debating, from Policy Varsity and Novice debate to Worlds Parliamentary style. We were happy to host schools from as far away as Virginia here at UR for the season-opening competition.

Our own students started off very well, with Ben Morbeck and Anthony Pericolo winning 4th and 10th best speaker awards in policy debate, and first year Warish Zaman Orko earning 3rd best novice speaker and top ESL speaker at the tournament. Our students also worked hard organizing, volunteering, and filling in when needed as debaters and judges throughout. We're lucky to have such a dedicated team of debaters here at UR. September held more debating for us in the weekends to come, so we kept pushing ahead. 

After warming up by hosting the season's opener we're ready to travel far and wide to compete. The weekend after the Brad our team traveled to Newark, NJ to compete against some of the best teams on the East Coast. While no URDU teams reached elimination rounds, we debated the top teams – including the one that won the tournament – and took away important lessons for the rest of the year. This tournament was great preparation for our trip to Cornell, which comes up in two weeks.

 
URDU Debaters on the bus to NAUDC at HWS

URDU brought lots of Novice teams and returners to the NAUDC tournament on 9/29 – 10/1. Everyone had great debates and learned a lot, particularly given the competitive turnout at the competition. In the end, seniors Ben Frazer and Graeme McGuire took home some glory, reaching Quarterfinals and finishing among the weekend’s top teams.