News

This past weekend UR Debate celebrated a big milestone – our first tournament win in a Civic Debate event.

Erin Kent and Nicole Martinez topped twenty-seven other teams to be named Social Justice Debate Champions. Erin and Nicole also earned recognition as the second and top speakers, respectively, for their exceptional individual performances, out of some sixty speakers. The tournament took place online among several colleges and universities, including the Air Force Academy, California Polytechnic Institute, and Morehouse College.

The Social Justice Debates (SJD) are an activity that puts argumentation to work to think through social justice challenges, under the auspices of “Civic Debate.” As a Civic Debate activity, SJD emphasizes education and civic participation above competition and gamesmanship, inviting topic experts and stakeholders to serve as judges for competitions. Since the SJD topic this year is focused on housing and homelessness, Erin and Monica were lucky to have been judged by several people who work with homeless individuals on a day-to-day basis, as well as one person who had experienced homelessness herself.

This win comes after years of work by Erin and Nicole, who have been part of UR Debate since 2022. We congratulate them on an excellent performance! We also invite anyone interested in having serious discussions about social justice to come and check out UR Debate in Dewey 1204, Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 6 p.m.