UM Debate Team Hosts Historic Bilingual Tournament

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

UM News

Renee Reneau can be reached at 305-284-5500.

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Pan American UDC 2014

Pan American UDC 2014, a set on Flickr.

Photos from the Pan American University Debating Championship. The first ever bilingual university debate tournament in U.S. history.

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UM Debate moves up to #8 nationally!

On the wave of another outstanding tournament performance at Vanderbilt this weekend, The University of Miami Debate Team has moved up to #8 Nationally in the National Debate Tournament Rankings (up from #11 in the previous ranking).  Schools looking up at UM include traditional powerhouses Northwestern, Harvard, Vanderbilt, Emory, and over 100 other schools.  We trail only Wake Forest in the Southeast region (they are 5^th).  UM is #11 (up from 12) in the Cross Examination Debate Association rankings.  Both rankings reward points based on ballots won across all divisions of debate.  UM is helped by the size of its team, with 26 UM students already representing the U in intercollegiate debate competition. 

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UM Debate is ranked #11 in the nation!

The first National Intercollegiate Debate Rankings for 2013 have been posted, and The University of Miami Debate Team is ranked among the nation’s elite.  In the National Debate Tournament (NDT) rankings, UM placed 11^th (of 115 member schools), and the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) rankings place UM at #12.  UM is second in the Southeast Region to Wake Forest, who is ranked 6^th by the NDT and 5^th by CEDA.

Rankings are based on an accumulation of ballots won across all divisions of debate.

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An amazing showing for the Canes at the West Point Debate Tournament

The University of Miami Debate Team traveled to West Point, New York on October 18-21 to compete at the US Military Academy. As a squad, the team won 26 debates, losing only 12. Four of five UM Teams entered in the tournament advanced into the elimination (award) rounds). In a field of 42 teams in novice debate, UM teams finished the preliminary debates seeded 4, 5, and 13, and advanced into the semifinals. 

In Junior Varsity, UM was the 9th seed. 

In the Junior Varsity Division, David Silverman and Spencer George compiled a preliminary debate record of 4-2, but lost a 2-1 decision in the sweet sixteen to Liberty University. The UM Novice team of Valentina Valdez and Nate Nunez also had a 4-2 record in the prelims, and defeated George Mason University in the first elimination round on a 3-0 decision. 

Also in Novice debate, Barbara Puodzius and Ashley Park were 5-1, advancing into the quarterfinals. In the round of 16, they defeated a team from Liberty University of Virginia. Joe Karam and Russ Wilde were 5-1, advancing all the way into the semifinals, where they lost a 2-1 decision to Binghamton University of New York. Along the way, UM won key debates against The New School from New York City, West Virginia University, Monmouth, Vanderbilt, and Cornell. 

This is another outstanding performance by the UM Debaters, who have been working hard on the topic of Presidential War Powers since the summer. UM’s goal is to break the top 20 in national rankings, based on squad success.

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