News

This past weekend was busy for UR Debate: one contingent of the URDU traveled to Toronto to the incredibly competitive Hart House British Parliamentary tournament, while the rest of the team worked hard on campus to host our yearly Brad Smith Memorial Debate tournament (this year as a Policy Debate event).

In Toronto URDUers had some tough debates against some of the best British Parli teams from across North America. We were happy to bring four students who had never traveled there before, along with a recent alum, Stine Isak (’24), who generously judged for us. Thanks to the University of Toronto for hosting a fantastic tournament, as usual!

While those folks got some great experience in Toronto, the rest of the URDU hosted another amazing Brad Smith Memorial Debate Tournament this weekend, one that Brad would have been proud of! Congrats to US Military Academy for closing out the Novice division, to Binghamton Debate for winning in Varsity, and to your very own Yellowjackets Lara Ozcayir and Ashaz Rahman for winning the Junior Varsity breakout championship!

We also were very lucky to be able to host a keynote speaker this year, Dr. Todd McGowan, who delivered a short talk called “Enjoyment and Argument” (see video below).

Lastly, we were very lucky to be joined by a few amazing alums who gave us their time judging and helping to run the tournament: thanks to Mike Gunther (’07, also a former URDU Assistant Coach), George Weddington, (’12, and a former URDU Assistant Director, and Ben Wittwer (’07). We’re thankful to have such a dedicated URDU alumni community!

URDU looks forward to a busy season ahead!