HWS News
23 October 2023 HWS Hosts Biggest U.S. Debate Tournament of the Year
First-years Fairooj Suhita '27 and Hudson Chou '27 shine at the United States University Debate Championship.
The biggest debate tournament in the country, the United States University Debate Championship, was held on campus on Oct. 21-23. This year, collegiate debate newcomers Fairooj Suhita '27 and Hudson Chou '27 made a splash, earning a spot in the tournament’s semifinal.
Suhita and Chou ranked 16th out of the 76 teams at the tournament, beating out two teams from Harvard University to enter the semifinal, where they faced off against elite teams from UPenn, Harvard and Princeton universities.
The motion for debate during the semifinal was, “This House as the Chinese Communist Party, would enact a large-scale fiscal stimulus to stabilize the property sector.” Teams are only given 15 minutes to prepare their speeches.
To “break” into the semifinal round, Suhita and Chou defeated more than 300 other debaters. Suhita was named the 4th best English as a Second Language (ESL) speaker at the tournament.
Suhita and Chou’s performance marks the highest finish of a first-year team at USUDC in HWS Debate history.
“This is an extraordinary feat for any debaters, yet more so for two students participating in their first semester of collegiate debate,” says Director of HWS Debate Daniel Schonning ’16.
Princeton University team Xiao-Ke Lu and Jacquelynn Lin won the championship. Open to the public, the final round engaged with current events with the motion, “This house as a moderate coalition of Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives, would support a moderate Republican for Speaker of the House.”
HWS Debate hosts USUDC because of its solid reputation for running tournaments.
“After years of diligently running a variety of events, HWS has garnered a reputation in the circuit for being organized, timely and hospitable hosts—owed entirely to the sustained efforts of our team,” Schonning says.
Grace Wilson ’26 served as the tournament director; William Koepp ’23, assistant tournament director; Awa Haidara ’26, chief of staff; and Jack Hanson ’24, food director.
Lamia Nur Rahman ’26 and Sandeep Tissaaratchy ’26 also competed. Kayla Powers ’24 served as chief adjudicator.
Pictured above, Fairooj Suhita '27 debates in the Open Quarterfinal at USUDC in Coxe Hall.
