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Hamden Hall Country Day School
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Timely Discourse Gets Debate Team Talking

The timely topic of whether colleges and universities should invite controversial speakers who are likely to cause disruption was up for recent debate – literally.

Thirteen members of the Hamden Hall’s Debate Team took part in a Connecticut Debate Association tournament on Feb. 3 at Daniel Hand HS in Madison. Five Novice pairs and two Varsity units debated three rounds on alternating sides of the resolution: “Colleges Should Not Invite Speakers Likely to Cause Disruption.”

According to Debate Team Coach Bill Hunter, teams on one side of the debate argued for freedom of speech and assembly, while the other side spoke of “safety first.”

“The AFF teams argued that safety first was a good college motto and that students’ race and religion ought to be protected in a college setting and not subjected to criticism and rebuke,” he said.

The Varsity team of seniors Shamoon Mallick and Chris Izzo won their first two rounds, launching them into a semi-final round against opponent Seymour High School. While the Seymour team prevailed, it was by a mere 1.5 speaker points in a hotly contested round.

Senior Mingting Xia debated by herself because of an ill partner and scored a laudatory 29 points in one round.

Hamden Hall’s five pairs of Novice teams were pleased to get experience in debate, Mr. Hunter said. Of the 110 debaters at the Novice (first year) level, freshman Prottoya Chowdhury placed 10th, attesting to his fast-developing organizational and speaking abilities. Prottoya and partner Sam Judson, also a freshman, won one of their rounds, as did sophomores Leo Li and Zean Wu. Sophomore Eduardo Pagliaro-Haque and junior Jaxon Alston were competitive in all three of their rounds, as were sophomores Nikhil Samuel and Mari Clark and juniors Eric Lin and Gemyla Huang.

Lauding debate as something that helps the participant become more broadminded (because you’re able to hear and learn about both sides of an issue), Mr. Hunter has been Hamden Hall’s debate coach for 33 years – since 1985!

“Debate features and builds three essential skills: first, the ability to work up a topic on both sides of the resolution in a structured way, going from elementary to more complex contentions; second, the ability to speak forcefully without raising one’s voice or hectoring the opposition; and third, the ability to listen well to one’s opponents to cross-apply one’s own arguments to their case, undercutting their advantages, building a winning edge,” he maintained.

Mr. Hunter noted that parents Mrs. Kara Judson and Dr. Sarwat Chaudhry assisted with judging. The team’s next tournament is in early March at Darien High School.
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