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Greetings!
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The movie, The Great Debaters, features the true story of Wiley College and legendary Debate Coach Melvin Tolson who coached one of the most successful debate teams in the history of America. Even more historic was the fact that this occurred during segregation. Wiley College (a historically black college) was not allowed to debate white schools. When Wiley was able to debate white colleges, Wiley won every tournament! The movie depicts Wiley College debating the national champions of Harvard University and winning. Star of the Great Debaters, Denzel Washington, donated to help rebuild the debate program of Wiley College and today Wiley College again is one of the top debate and speech schools in the country. And the movie premier of the Great Debaters was held in NYC and they invited our debaters to attend and hence the name Great Debaters stuck with our team.
Each year in February, Harvard University hosts one of the largest and most competitive debate tournaments in the nation. Two years ago not a single NYCUDL debater reached the top twenty in the varsity division. What a difference 2 years makes! Like the Great Debaters of Wiley College, we came to Harvard and we swept nearly all the awards! So this week's shout outs go to our incredible Travel Team (ACORN Community, Brooklyn Tech, KAPPA International, Achievement First, Bronx Law, Academy for Innovation, Maspeth and the Institute for Collaborative Education) at the Harvard Invitational and all our supporters who make travel opportunities available for our Great Debaters. Because of YOU there is no glass ceiling on our debaters! And as a result our debaters swept nearly half of the awards of the Harvard Tournament and three NYCUDL teams are on their way to the Tournament of Champions! Thank you everyone for your support and Congratulations to all our Great Debaters!
BE GREAT! BE A GREAT DEBATER!
Sincerely,
Erik Fogel, Director of the New York City Urban Debate League
Twitter: #nycdebateleague
Email: nycudl@gmail.com
Phone: 917-455-1079
Be Great! Be a Great Debater! Support Our City's Debate League! |
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!
PARENTS! TEACHERS! COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS! HIGH SCHOOL VOLUNTEERS!
Help make a difference in our community
and become a Debate Judge!
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NEW YORK CITY GREAT DEBATERS SWEEP HARVARD TOURNAMENT!!!
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NYC DEBATERS SWEEP HARVARD!
A historic day for New York City Debaters at Harvard! Half of top 10 speaker awards went to NYC, half of teams in Octa Finals were from NYC, nearly half of the teams in Quarter Finals from NYC!! At least 4 NYC Teams going to the Tournament of Champions! Click here for more.
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BRONX LAW IS RUNNER UP AT THE HARVARD TOURNAMENT!
Congratulations Bronx Law's Charles & Geo were the Runner Up at the Harvard Debate Tournament as well as winner of top speaker awards. Click here to learn more!
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TWO BROOKLYN SCHOOLS MAKE HISTORY AT HARVARD!
Two Brooklyn schools made history at the Harvard Tournament by winning nearly all their rounds and placing as top teams and speakers - not to mention Tournament of Champions bids! Click here to learn more!
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UPCOMING LOCAL TOURNAMENTS
All students should have the opportunity
to be Great Debaters.
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MARCH 7TH GIRLS DEBATE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT!
On March 7th (Friday) the New York City Urban Debate League in partnership with the Bella Azbug Leadership Institute will host our Spring All Girls Debate Tournament at Hunter College from 9am-3pm. The day will feature amazing workshops during the morning and inspiring debates on gender issues in the afternoon including the topic of all girls schools versus coed schools.
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KIRKLAND & ELLIS VARSITY POLICY DEBATE
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIER!
There are many national championships tournaments. But the most unique, most diverse, and the most accessible national championships for all debaters is the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues National Championship. Every league across the country can only select its top two debate teams to represent the city. So good luck to our debaters at the National Championships Qualifier. And thank you so much to the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis for their support and hosting our National Qualifier!!!!
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Citizens Committee for New York City's
High School
Debate Championships
Thanks to our partnership with the Citizens Committee for New York City, we have a debate league for the city of New York. And so our signature event of the year for our high school students is the NYC HS Debate Championships! This is a 3 Day Tournament! Friday after school, all day Saturday, Final Rounds on Monday and Evening Awards at the Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn! All high school divisions - novice, junior varsity and varsity! All high school debate events - policy debate, public forum debate, and Lincoln Douglas Debate! Every school is invited to send their top two teams in each division and each event. Click here to learn more and stay tuned for additional details!
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The New York State Debate Championships Tournament
Attention all New York City Great Debaters! Elementary School! Middle School! High School! Policy Debate! Public Forum Debate! Parliamentary Debate! Lincoln Douglas Debate! Elementary School Debate! Speech! The New York State Debate Championships for ALL DEBATERS IN NEW YORK will be held at the Bronx High School of Science on March 28th-29th. Click here to learn more!
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Middle School
Debate Topics
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High School
Debate Topics
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March Public Forum Debate Topic
Resolved: Single-gender classrooms would improve the quality of education in American public schools.
March/April Parliamentary Debate Topics
1. This House believes that (THBT) marriage is an outdated institution.
2. THBT the U.S. should end its military aid to Israel.
3. THBT single-gender classrooms would improve the quality of education in American public schools.
Policy Debate Topic
Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its economic engagement toward Cuba by ending its embargo on Cuba.
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March Public Forum Debate Topic
Resolved: Single-gender classrooms would improve the quality of education in American public schools.
March/April Lincoln Douglas Debate Topic
Resolved: Placing political conditions on humanitarian aid to foreign countries is unjust.
Policy Debate Topic
Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its economic engagement toward Cuba, Mexico or Venezuela.
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THE GIRLS DEBATE LEAGUE
The New York City Urban Debate League founded the nation's first all girls debate league in 2011 to close the gender gap and empower young women to become our next generation of leaders.
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Girls Debate League Celebrates Women's History Month and All Our Great Debaters!
We can't fit too many names in this box but a small shout out to female great debaters of the late 20th century including Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Great Britain; Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Secretary of State and former First Lady of the United States; Lady Bird Johnson, former First Lady of the United States; Barbara Jordan, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives; Jane Pauley, news anchor; Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas; Susan Rook, News Anchor for CNN; Sandra Day O'Connor, First Female Supreme Court Justice; Oprah Winfrey, talk show host; Marsha Clark, noted prosecutor; Arianna Huffington, liberal TV commentator. At the time of writing, February 27 is the anniversary of the passing of Henrietta Bell Wells. Ms. Bells was the only woman, the only freshman and the last surviving member of the 1930 Wiley College debate team that participated in the first interracial collegiate debate in the United States. She was undefeated for years. Click here to learn more.
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Girls Debate League Tournament
March 7th @ Hunter College.
Topic: Single Sex Schools versus Coed Schools!
On March 7th (Friday) the New York City Urban Debate League in partnership with the Bella Azbug Leadership Institute will host our Spring All Girls Debate Tournament at Hunter College from 9am-3pm. The day will feature amazing workshops during the morning and inspiring debates on gender issues in the afternoon including the topic of all girls schools versus coed schools. Click here to learn more. We are nearing 100 debaters for the first all girls tournament of 2014!
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Free High School Girls Summer Leadership and Debate Institute with the Bella Azbug Leadership Institute. Apply Now!
The New York City Urban Debate League's Girls Debate League and the Bella Azbug Leadership Institute have had a very long and close partnership in providing the best education opportunities to New York City young women. And we are proud to announce the BALI Summer Leadership and Debate Program for 2014! All high school young women should apply to this incredible summer experience!!! Click here for more information!
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Scholarships available for High School Debaters to the Women's Debate Institute! Apply Now!
The Women's Debate Institute is a tuition-free camp that provides young women the opportunity to be a part of a strong community of women who love debate. At the WDI, high school girls have the opportunity to learn policy and Lincoln-Douglas debate skills from some of the top female debaters in the country. Working one-on-one with former NDT and CEDA winners gives girls the competitive edge they need to be successful debaters. Click here to learn more.
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UPCOMING REGIONAL
AND NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS!
All students should have access to the most rigorous academic opportunities.
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February 28th - March 1st
The Westchester Classic Debate Tournament @ Lakeland High School
The Westchester Classic is one of the most popular and competitive tournaments of the year - it is also the last national circuit tournament to qualify for the Tournament of Championships. Click here for details. It is also the first national circuit to host debate events for all ages. The tournament is hosted annually by Lakeland High School. You can follow the Varsity Policy debate division round by round by clicking here.
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March 29th - March 30th
The New York State Championships Tournament
New York State's most prestigious tournament - the New York State Debate Coaches Association State Championships Tournament is coming up! All ages! All debate events! Click here for details.
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LEGAL EDUCATION FOR ALL PROJECT
All youth should have access to the best law education opportunities. LEAP (Legal Education for all Project) is the city's only program to bring law education opportunities to every student, every school and every grade in NYC.
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Legal Career Nights!
Our debate and legal education programs are New York's largest effort to address the law diversity pipeline by engaging all youth to pursue careers in law.
Every month we bring together NYC youth and the NYC legal community to celebrate careers in law.
For the month of March we bring together our Great Debaters with the Great Law Firm of Kirkland and Ellis which is one of the nation's top litigation firms.
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Legal Debate Topic - The Supreme Court's decision to invalidate Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act
Each month, NYC students across all grade levels engage in debate, discussion, research and critical inquiry of different legal topics.
This month our legal debate topic is on the Voting Rights Act. The Public Forum Debate Topic Area for the month of February is on the Supreme Court and Individual Rights. "Resolved: The Supreme Court rightly decided the Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act violated the Constitution." To learn more about the topic area, click here.
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Legal Skills 101: Public Speaking
You don't need to be a lawyer to have legal skills. Our mission is that all students should have access to law education opportunities. Legal skills - writing, researching, critical thinking, public speaking, questioning - to name a few - are essential skills for all students and all adults.
This month's legal skill topic is on Public Speaking. Public speaking is considered one of the greatest fears of people. But it is one of the most essential skills.
Click here for Debate Camp (www.nycdebatecamp.org) lecture on the "Pathos, Logos, Ethos: The Art of Public Speaking." Our top debate and law coaches address the skills of a public speaker.
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NYC COMMUNITY DEBATE NIGHTS!
All students should have the best civics education.
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New York Historical Society Elementary School Debate Championships Tournament
April 26th
Thank you to our partnership with the New York Historical Society for hosting our end of the year Elementary School Debate Tournament and huge thanks to Elementary Schools Director Tyler Beattie!! The New York Historical Society is one of America's pre-eminent cultural institutions, is dedicated to fostering research, presenting history and art exhibitions, and public programs that reveal the dynamism of history and its influence on the world of today. It is the oldest museum in New York City. Click here to learn more.
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Citizens Committee
Debate Night
We would not have a debate league for New York City without the Citizens Committee for New York City! For several years we have been proud partners and this year we are planning for a debate night where our students will learn about the incredible work of Citizens Committee and Citizens Committee will have the opportunity to judge one of our debates. Thank you again for all your support!
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OUR NYC DEBATE LEAGUE PROGRAMS
NEW YORK CITY'S MOST RIGOROUS ACADEMIC PROGRAM - EVERY DAY, EVERY WEEKEND, EVERY SUMMER - YEAR ROUND.
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High School Debate League
UPCOMING DATES!
February 29th - March 1st
Westchester Classic Invitational
www.tabroom.com
March 7th
NYC Girls Debate League Tournament @ Hunter College
www.speechwire.com
March 21st-22nd
New York City High School Debate Championships @ The Institute for Collaborative Education,
www.tabroom.com
March 24th
End of the Year Awards Ceremony & Final Rounds of City Championships @ The Brooklyn Federal Courthouse
March 29th-30th
New York State Debate Coaches State Championships
www.tabroom.com
OTHER HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE RESOURCES
High School Travel Team Tournament Calendar . Click here.
High School National Circuit Team
High School Policy Debate Resources.
High School Public Forum Debate Resources.
High School Lincoln Douglas Debate Resources.
Contact us for any help! Click here. or nycudl@gmail.com |
Middle School Debate League
UPCOMING DATES!
February 29th - March 1st
Westchester Classic Invitational
www.tabroom.com
March 7th
NYC Girls Debate League Tournament @ Hunter College
www.speechwire.com
March 29th-30th
New York State Debate Coaches State Championships
www.tabroom.com
April 5th
The Battle of the Boroughs Middle School Debate Tournament @ The Bronx High School of Science (featuring workshops on HS admissions and the specialized HS examination)
www.speechwire.com
May 2nd-3rd
New York City Middle School Debate Championships
@ The Institute for Collaborative Education
www.speechwire.com
May 5th
End of the Year Awards Banquet for Middle School
June 5th
Middle School Quality Initiative City Championships @ Teachers College, Columbia University
June 16th-20th
Middle School National Championships
MIDDLE SCHOOL DEBATE LEAGUE RESOURCES
Middle School Policy Debate Resources.
Middle School Public Forum Debate Resources.
Middle School Parliamentary Debate Resources.
Contact us for any help! Click here. or nycudl@gmail.com |
Elementary School Debate League
April 5thThe Battle of the Boroughs Debate Tournament @ The Bronx High School of Science (featuring workshops on HS orientation and the specialized HS examination)www.speechwire.com
May 2nd-3rd
New York City Middle School Debate Championships
@ The Institute for Collaborative Education
May 5th
End of the Year Awards Banquet for Middle School
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DEBATE LEAGUE RESOURCES
Elementary School Tournament Calendar. Click here.
Contact us for any help! Click here. or nycudl@gmail.com |
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