THE NEW YORK CITY URBAN DEBATE LEAGUE 22 NOVEMBER 2015

THE GREAT DEBATERS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER THE NEW YORK CITY URBAN DEBATE LEAGUE BE GREAT! BE A GREAT DEBATER!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR SCHOOL TO JOIN THE NEW YORK CITY DEBATE LEAGUE Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! We want to take a moment to let you know how thankful we are to you for making scholastic debate possible for NYC youth... Every day, hundreds of NYC teachers and volunteers coach thousands of NYC youth in debate skills - public speaking, research, writing, critical thinking, civics and more. Every day and night, hundreds of NYC youth read, research, write and practice to prepare for debates. Every Saturday, hundreds of NYC youth, teachers, parents, alumni, interns, UDL staff, and volunteers participate in debate tournaments - NYC's largest youth civic education program and most rigorous academic program.  Every Summer, hundreds of NYC youth and volunteers participate in debate camps. So thank you for making debate possible for so many NYC youth - every day, every weekend, every summer - year round access to the most rigorous academic program since Socrates and Ancient Greece. Indeed, on December 3rd, many of our debaters are invited to meet Erwin Chemerinsky, noted Constitutional Scholar and Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law. Chemerinsky thanked his participation on the debate team for making him who he is today .... "I learned how to think critically, how to develop arguments, how to speak clearly, and how to research. Everything I do - teaching, writing, and advocacy - uses these skills. Perhaps less obviously, I learned word economy which has been enormously valuable. . . . in teaching, sign-posting and labeling is much appreciated by my students. In doing media interviews, the conciseness that comes from word economy is invaluable in doing soundbites. Also, very importantly, as you know so well, debate forces one to be efficient in using one's time and prepares one for juggling the many things we all must do."  So thank you everyone for supporting scholastic debate in New York City and our mission that every school should have a debate team and every student should have access to debate. And please consider donating to support this mission on Giving Tuesday!  Click here to donate! DECEMBER NEW YORK CITY DEBATE EVENTS December 3rd - Intelligence Squared Debate Night December 3rd - Columbia University Debate Center (Manhattan) December 3rd-7th - Electric City Round Robin (Pennsylvania) December 4th-6th - Princeton University Debate Tournament (New Jersey) December 5th - Middle School Parliamentary Debate Tournament (Brooklyn) December 5th - Manhattan Debate Center (Manhattan) December 10th - Columbia University Debate Center (Manhattan) December 12th - Middle School Public Forum & Policy Tournament (Bronx) December 12th - High School Policy Debate Tournament (Bronx) December 12th - High School Public Forum & Parliamentary Tournament (Brooklyn) December 12th - Manhattan Debate Center (Manhattan) December 19th - Regis December Debate, NY Catholic League (Manhattan) December 19th - Manhattan Debate Center Holiday Party (Manhattan) CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE NEW YORK CITY URBAN DEBATE LEAGUE ON GIVING TUESDAYAND HELP START DEBATE PROGRAMS IN 10 NEW SCHOOLS FOR OVER 100 NEW DEBATERS!   NOVEMBER 21 TOURNAMENT RESULTS! (PUBLIC FORUM AND PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE) New York City's Monthly High School Public Forum and Parliamentary Debate Tournament  Thank you to the Brooklyn Debate League and Sunset Park HS for hosting our monthly high school public forum and parliamentary debate tournament!  72 debate teams, 153 debaters, and over 50 judges participated in this tournament. Topics included the refugee crisis, capital punishment, NATO, and the hacker group Anonymous. For complete tournament results click here.  NOVEMBER 21 TOURNAMENT RESULTS (POLICY DEBATE) New York City's Monthly High School Policy Debate Tournament  Thank you to the Brooklyn Debate League and ACORN Community HS for hosting New York City's monthly policy debate tournament. 58 debate teams, 116 debaters, and over 50 judges participated to make this one of our largest policy debate tournaments! The topic was on national surveillance and debate teams debated their own policy solutions to this issue. Click here for complete tournament results.  NOVEMBER 21 New York City Debate Club Thanksgiving Party!  Thank you to those attending our Thanksgiving Party and Debate Workshop at the Manhattan Debate Center on Saturday. Thank you to Coach Daniel Mandell for leading this Saturday's workshop and Eljona Nezaj and Samira Pinu for making everything possible. DECEMBER 1ST GIVING TUESDAY Click here to donate! Please consider donating to the New York City Urban Debate League to support our mission that all schools should have debate teams and all students should have access to the best debate education opportunities. #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Observed on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season. Since its inaugural year in 2012, #GivingTuesday has become a movement that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year and a growing catalog of resources. With your support, the New York City Urban Debate League plans to kick off the new year by starting debate programs in ten new schools with over 100 new students.Please click here to donate! All donations are tax deductible.  DECEMBER 3RD Intelligence Squared Debate Night on Racial Preferences. Thank you to Intelligence Squared for an incredible partnership to provide NYC youth access to these incredible monthly debates. Each month we align our middle school parliamentary debate topic with the monthly Intelligence Squared topic. This month's topic: The Equal Protection Clause Forbids Racial Preferences in State University Admissions. Click here for details. Debaters include Erwin Chemerinsky (Dean, University of California, Irvine School of Law), Deborah Archer (Director, Racial Justice Project & Professor, New York Law School), Stuart Taylor, Jr. (Nonresident Fellow, Brookings & Co-Author of Mismatch), Roger Clegg (President and General Counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity).  If you are or have been a law student - everyone has read Chemerinsky! Click here to learn more about our partnership with Intelligence Squared!  DECEMBER 3RD-7TH NATIONAL ROUND ROBIN (Pennsylvania) Brooklyn Tech Debate Team Wins Bid to Prestigious Scranton Round Robin Invitational Tournament!  Only 9 teams from across the nation are invited!  Congratulations to Brooklyn Technical High School's debaters, Karease Quashie & Olivia Cherry who received a bid to the "Electric City" Round Robin! We are continuing to follow their journey as they attempt to qualify for the Tournament of Champions - the nation's most prestigious debate tournament. They received their first bid at the NYC Debate Invitational by winning 2nd Place at one of the nation's largest tournaments. DECEMBER 3RD-7TH Electric City Round Robin Tournament & Scranton Invitational Good luck to New York City debate teams traveling to Scranton for the annual Electric City Invitational. Click here to learn more about the tournament.  DECEMBER 3RD-5TH PRINCETON UNIVERSITY TOURNAMENT Brown Rudnick Travel Team On Their Way to Princeton University!  Good luck to our Public Forum debaters who are on their way to Princeton University in December to compete at one of the nation's top debate tournaments in public forum debate. The topic for Princeton University: Resolved: On balance, standardized testing is beneficial to K-12 education in the United States. Click here to learn more about the tournament. DECEMBER 5TH NYC Middle School Parliamentary Debate Tournament  Thank you to Berkeley Carroll and the Brooklyn Debate League  for hosting our December Middle School Parliamentary Debate Tournament. The following topics will be debated: (1) This House supports affirmative action in college admissions, (2) This House would repeal the Second Amendment, (3) This House would end birthright citizenship. DECEMBER 5TH  NYC Debate Club Practice!  We are honored to have national award winning debater, Eli Jacobs of Harvard University present a workshop on Offense/Defense tactics in debate.Click here to sign up! DECEMBER 12TH NYC Middle School Public Forum and Policy Debate Tournament  Save the date for our third middle school public forum and policy debate tournament on December 12th! Thank you to the Bronx Debate League and In Tech Academy for hosting!  December Public Forum Debate Resolution Resolved: On balance, standardized testing is beneficial to K-12 education in the United States. 2015-2016 Policy Debate Resolution Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance. DECEMBER 12TH NYC High School Policy Debate, Parliamentary Debate, and Public Forum Debate Tournaments. Thank you to the Brooklyn Debate League and William Grady High School for hosting our December High School Debate Tournament.  December Public Forum Debate Resolution Resolved: On balance, standardized testing is beneficial to K-12 education in the United States. December Policy Debate Resolution Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance. December Parliamentary Debate Motions Motions will be impromptu debate topics, announced 20 minutes before each round. Topics will be selected from the monthly content of www.studentnewsdaily.com which has daily free news resources and iphone/android apps for students. DECEMBER 19TH Regis High School/NY Catholic Forensics League Tournament  On December 19th, the NY Catholic Forensics League and Regis High School is hosting a tournament in all debate events! We encourage all NYC schools to participate and the NYCUDL will support with breakfast and lunch. This is not a NYCUDL tournament, so interested schools need to sign up by clicking here. This is a qualifying bid to the Catholic Forensics League National Championship which will be hosted this year in Sacramento, California. So if interested in attending this tournament, this is a required tournament!  DECEMBER 19TH  NYC Debate Club Practice and Holiday Party! Join us for our weekly Debate Club and Holiday Party at the Manhattan Debate Center! Click here to sign up! MARCH 18TH DEADLINE!   Calvin Coolidge Scholarship Opportunity!  Attention High School Juniors!  The Coolidge Scholarship is a full-ride presidential scholarship that covers a student's tuition, room, board, and expenses for four years of undergraduate study and leadership training. This one-of-a-kind scholarship may be used at any American University. Click here to learn more and apply now! We would also like to give a special shout out to the Calvin Coolidge Foundation for support of scholastic debate across the nation! President Coolidge was also on his school's debate team!  JOIN THE NEW YORK CITY URBAN DEBATE LEAGUE FOR THE 2015-2016 DEBATE SEASON! Debate Tournaments every weekend.  Debate Centers every week.  Debate Nights every month.  Summer Debate Institutes all summer. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR SCHOOL NOW!  HIGH SCHOOL TOURNAMENT CALENDAR HIGH SCHOOL POLICY DEBATE TOURNAMENT CALENDAR 10/3 - Season Kick Off Workshop (Bronx High School of Science) 10/24 - NYC High School Tournament #1 (Maspeth High School) 11/21 - NYC High School Tournament #2 (ACORN Community High School) 12/12 - NYC High School Tournament #3 (Bronx Collaborative High School) 1/23 - NYC High School Tournament #4 (Institute for Collaborative Education) 2/6 - NYC High School Tournament #5 (Bronx Science) 3-11 - 3/12 - NYC High School City Championships (William Grady High School) May - Borough Championship Tournaments June - National Speech & Debate Association's National Championships HIGH SCHOOL PUBLIC FORUM  AND PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE TOURNAMENT CALENDAR 10/3 - Season Kick Off Workshop (Bronx High School of Science) 10/24 - NYC High School Tournament #1 (Maspeth High School) 11/21 - NYC High School Tournament #2 (Sunset Park HS) 12/12 - NYC High School Tournament #3 (William Grady HS - tentative) 1/23 - NYC High School Tournament #4 (Harvest Collegiate School) 2/6 - NYC High School Tournament #5 (Bronx Science) 3-11 - 3/12 - NYC High School City Championships (William Grady High School) May - Borough Championship Tournaments June - National Speech & Debate Association's National Championships HIGH SCHOOL BROWN RUDNICK TRAVEL TEAM CALENDAR 9/19 - Yale University Debate Invitational 9/26 - Georgetown Day School Invitational 10/16 - New York City Invitational  10/24 - Capital Classic Invitational 12/4 - Princeton University Invitational 1/26 - Lexington High School Invitational  2/13 - Harvard University Invitational 2/27 - Lakeland Invitational  4/9 - National Debate Coaches Championships 4/16 - National Urban Debate League Championships June - National Speech and Debate Association National Championships 2015-2016 MIDDLE SCHOOL TOURNAMENT CALENDAR MIDDLE SCHOOL QUALITY INITIATIVE DEBATE CALENDAR 10/17 - MSQI Debate Tournament #1 (MS 88) 1/30 - MSQI Debate Tournament #2 (Brooklyn Tech) 3/5 - MSQI Debate Tournament #3 (Bronx Science) 6/10 - MSQI Debate Championships (Hunter College) MIDDLE SCHOOL PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE CALENDAR 10/3 - Season Kick Off  (Bronx Science)  10/10 - Parli Tournament #1 (PS 161)  11/14 - Parli Tournament #2 (Anderson/Computer School) 12/5 - Parli Tournament #3 (Berkeley Carroll) 1/9 - Parli Tournament #4 (PS 180) 2/6 - Parli Tournament #5 (PS 161) 3/5 - New York City Middle School City Championships (Bronx Science)  April - Borough Championships May - Law Debate Month 5/21-5/22 - State Championships (Brooklyn Tech & Julia Richman Education Complex) June - National Speech & Debate League National Middle School Championships  MIDDLE SCHOOL PUBLIC FORUM & POLICY DEBATE CALENDAR  10/3 - Season Kick Off Workshop (Bronx Science) 10/24 - Public Forum & Policy Tournament #1 (Hunters Point Community School) 11/7 - Public Forum & Policy Tournament #2 (MS 45) 12/12 - Public Forum & Policy Tournament #3 (In Tech Academy) 1/16 - Public Forum & Policy Tournament #4 (Far Rockaway High School) 2/27 - Public Forum & Policy Tournament #5 (Midwood High School) 3/5 - New York City Middle School City Championships (Bronx Science) April - Borough Championships May - Law Debate Month 5/21-22 - New York State Middle School Championships June - National Speech & Debate League National Middle School Championships  MIDDLE SCHOOL DEBATE LEAGUES BOROUGH CHAMPIONSHIPS 5/7 - Bronx/Harlem Debate League Championships (TBA)  5/7 - Manhattan Debate League Championships (TBA) 5/14 - Queens Debate League Championships (Maspeth High School) 5/14 - Brooklyn Debate League Championships (TBA) 2015-2016 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CALENDAR 12/12 - Fall Semester Elementary School Championships 3/5 - Spring Semester Elementary School Championships