University of Miami to host the 2014 Pan American University Debating Championship

The University of Miami debate team is excited to be hosting the Pan American University Debating Championship January 24th - 26th, 2014. The competition will bring in students from universities across the U.S., Latin America, and Europe to debate contemporary topics that effect a globalized world. Students will be able to compete in either English or Spanish language British parliamentary format debates. For more information check out the tournament page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CPUD2014

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Updated list of debate video sites

Thanks to the efforts of various coaches and directors across the country, this year in debate has produced a substantial amount of high quality videos available for online viewing. This is a brief collection of various debate videos we have come across (feel free to send us your links if you're not mentioned) from the last two years. The videos are divided up by event below. 

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2013 DSR-TKA National Champions!

The University of Miami debate team won the championship at the national tournament for Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha, the national forensics and debate honorary, held March 1-3 at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Securing the win for the ‘Canes were Ali Jessani, 19, a sophomore majoring in communication studies and political science, and Ryden Butler, 20, a sophomore majoring in political science, history and economics.

The debate team is sponsored by UM School of Communication and directed by Communication Studies Professor David L. Steinberg with the help of coaches/graduate assistants Randall Martinez and Joe Graziano.

The topic of the final debate was “The U.S. Federal government should better fund colleges and universities.” Jessani and Butler defended this statement by defining “better funding” as allocating current funding to support beneficial programs rather than harmful ones. They clinched the victory over Valdosta State University.

Jessani and Butler were both inducted into Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha, the most prestigious national forensics honorary, for their excellence in intercollegiate debate competition and their outstanding academic achievements.

Five UM teams competed in the tournament, and three advanced to the quarterfinals. Matt De La Fe, a junior majoring in political science, and Adir Paner, a senior majoring in psychology and business law, performed well in the quarterfinals but lost in a split decision. Renee Reneau, a freshman majoring in public relations and political science, and Michael Fuentes, a freshman majoring in accounting, advanced to the semifinals.

UM previously won the Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha national championship tournament in 1996.

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Total transition to paperless complete

After a brief sabbatical from policy debate in the Fall, the team came back to CEDA/NDT style debate at the Bulldog Debates at the University of Georgia. This marks the first tournament for the Canes after making a full transition to paperless debate. The team was excited about the switch over, and had some big wins throughout the weekend against Richmond, Notre Dame, and the University of Houston. The team's next policy tournament is the district tournament at Vanderbilt.

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Canes go to Dublin! First international trip in Canes history.

 The University of Miami Debate Team took their talents across the pond for their first international competition in Dublin, Ireland. Though the competition was fierce, the Hurricanes had a strong showing and came away with huge wins, including a top ranking over the team from Oxford. The tournament, known as the Trinity Inter-Varsity competition, brought in 167 speakers from around the world to compete in the Worlds debating format over various issues including domestic abuse, marriage equality, and the role of women in the military. Countries being represented at the tournament included France, England, China, Singapore, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Finland, Russia, and of course the U helped represent the American delegation.

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