HWS Debate Excels Across Northeast
21 January 2020 HWS Debate Excels Across Northeast
The HWS Debate Team recently traveled to and excelled in tournaments throughout North America, including Brad Smith IV, Brandeis IV and the Father Roger Guindon Cup. In addition to the teams impressive placements, several HWS debaters were recognized for their individual performances.
At Brad Smith IV, hosted by the University of Rochester, two HWS teams placed in the open category with Bart Lahiff 20 and Sarim Karim 22 becoming finalists. During the grand final round, Lahiff and Karim debated whether when presented with a device that accurately predicts the cause, time and place of an individuals death they would destroy the device. The duo built on their success, having earned the fourth seed to the quarterfinal round at the Hubber Debate Tournament earlier in the semester. Matt Nusom 23 and Sreyan Kanungo 23 finished as semi-finalists in the open category.The tournament hosted 42 teams. In addition to their achievements, Eesha Anjum 23 and Andrew Barsky 23 became finalists in the novice category.
The Brad Smith IV tournament named many HWS students among the top debaters of the tournament. Kanungo was named the second best open speaker, best novice speaker and best English as a second language speaker. Lahiff was named the third best open speaker. Karim and Nusom tied as the fourth best open speakers. Anjum was named the fifth best ESL speaker. Jacob Wallman 20 was named the ninth best open speaker.
At the Brandeis competition in Waltham, Mass., which hosted 108 teams including students from Brown, McGill, Harvard and Yale Universities, Kanungo was named the third best novice speaker. In the sixth round of the tournament, Kanungo debated the efficacy of universal basic income verses a federal jobs guarantee.
The Father Roger Guindon Cup was held at the University of Ottawa. Competing against 40 teams, HWS Assistant Coach Marlene Pierce and Maya Striuli 22 finished as semi-finalists in the open category. Pierce tied for the fourth best speaker at the competition.
The internationally competitive HWS Debate Team participates in more than a dozen tournaments around the world every year, including the National and World Championships. Learn more about the program here.