Martinez
Debate legend Alfred “Tuna” Snider, of the University of Vermont, addresses the tournament participants.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (January 29, 2014) — Student debaters representing five countries in the Western Hemisphere gathered at the University of Miami in January for what is believed to be the first bilingual university debate tournament in the U.S.
Teams from Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, the United States, and Venezuela were represented in the inaugural Pan American Universities Debating Championships hosted by the School of Communication from January 24 to 26 on the Coral Gables campus. Rounds were debated simultaneously in both English and Spanish with topics ranging from an independent Puerto Rico, to the morality of killing Osama Bin Laden, to the promotion of nudist beaches.
The tournament brought together two British Parliamentary debate legends for the first time, Alfred “Tuna” Snider of the University of Vermont, and Arlan Narvaez from Universidad Central de Venezuela, who served as chief adjudicators.
In the final round of the English division, four states in the four corners of the U.S.—California (California Polytechnic State University), Oregon (Willamette University), Georgia (Morehouse College), and Vermont (University of Vermont)—were represented.
Morehouse took home the win after an hour-long debate about establishing Spanish as the official language in certain U.S. regions.
Debating the same topic Sunday evening, Colombia’s Universidad de Rosario won the Spanish division.
University of Miami debaters Spencer George, left, and David Silverman participate in the historic bilingual debate hosted by the University of Miami.
Top speaker awards and other finalist trophies were presented. The tournament was coordinated by Miami student debaters and overseen by head and assistant debate coaches Dave Steinberg, Patrick Waldinger, and Randall Martinez.
“I am proud and honored to have the privilege of working with this group,” said Steinberg, director of debate at UM. “I feel this tournament was our best team success to date.”
By Renee Reneau
Renee Reneau can be reached at 305-284-5500.
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