NYU Abu Dhabi’s Debate Union has celebrated a number of successes this semester, both in international tournaments and in hosting their own regional tournament on campus.

The Debate Union, in addition to more than 70 other teams, travelled to Central European University in Budapest to compete in the Budapest Open Debate Tournament 2016 from March 11 to March 13. Motions ranged from controversial topics such as Nazi war criminals to private political donations. NYUAD sent two teams to the Budapest tournament: NYUAD A, seniors Megan Eloise and Andres Rodriguez and NYUAD B, senior Benjamin Leb and junior Dominique Lear.

Both teams were successful in advancing to the Quarterfinals, where they debated the motion “This House supports the French government’s decision to dismantle the Calais Jungle.” Prior to the quarterfinal, NYUAD A ranked fourth in the tournament. Freshman Thomas Yates was also successful in advancing as an adjudicator to the semifinals.

NYUAD teams continued their success at the High School of Economics Open 2016 in Moscow on the weekend of April 2 to April 3. Here, 40 teams debated a range of diverse motions, including the execution of Andreas Breivik and the integration of al-Qaeda and ISIS. The members of NYUAD A remained unchanged from Budapest, while NYUAD B consisted of freshman Chris Wheeler and sophomore Dmitry Dobrovolskiy.

Both NYUAD A and B were victorious in the preliminary and final rounds, making it to the grand final. In the final round they debated the motion “This House would send international peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh and make it non-state territory.”

Megan Eloise was awarded Best Speaker of the tournament, with the highest number of speaker points. Andres Rodriguez received second place. Freshman Nicolaj Thor was awarded Best Adjudicator.

Back on Saadiyat, the NYUAD Regional Debate Tournament 2016 was held on campus over the weekend of April 8 and  April 9. It was attended by over 70 students from universities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah and Qatar, serving as both debaters and adjudicators. The organization of the tournament was spearheaded by NYUAD Debate Union President Dominique Lear, with members of the Debate Union forming the organizing committee. The lead-up to the tournament involved an extensive amount of planning, made successful by the joint efforts of over a dozen members of the Debate Union and wider NYUAD community who provided logistical and educational support on the day.

The tournament was enjoyed by both debaters and adjudicators alike. Chair adjudicator Andres Rodriguez commented on the pleasing quality of debate from students whose universities often do not have established British Parliamentary style debate training like NYUAD.

“The tournament was very encouraging,” said Rodriguez, “It was clear that the analytical type of thinking which good debate requires is there.”

The tournament was won by team A&M A, comprised of Ghufran Rafique and Zain Raza, a pair of third-year engineering students at Texas A&M University in Qatar.

“I think it’s a great initiative by NYUAD to invite teams from beyond the UAE to the tournament,” said Rafique, “Hopefully we’ll see greater collaboration in the future between the UAE and Qatar circuits.”

The Debate Union aims to promote British Parliamentary style debate within NYUAD and towards the external community, with the hosting of the annual regional debate tournament. The tournament has been successful in encouraging other universities in the UAE to form their own debate clubs. Regular Debate Union meetings are held every Monday evening, with the opportunity to practice debating or simply watch a debate to become familiar with the style.