On May 3, a team on the NYUAD Debate Society performed successfully at the annual Kiev Open Tournament and took home first place. NYU President John Sexton was among the first to congratulate NYUAD champions freshman Morgante Pell, who is also the Debate Society’s Vice President, and sophomore Benjamin Leb. Pell and Leb defeated two Israeli teams and a team from Russia in the final.

Sexton has long had a passion for the formal contest of ideas, claiming that his first “four years in debate were the education foundation of everything [he] did.”

Earlier in March, first place seemed almost unattainable as seven students travelled to the Vienna Intervarsity Debate Competition with Julie Avina, the Dean of Students, to represent NYUAD for the first time internationally. With expert training from NYU professor John Coughlin, teams of two competed against colleges from over 45 countries. The competition served as an introduction to the thriving debate culture in Europe.

The British Parliamentary format, which pits the skills of four teams against each other after a 15-minute preparation time, was new to those who were not from countries like Europe or Asia, where this practice is standard. Set against the immaculate backdrop of Vienna University’s main ceremonial chamber, the final debate was centered on a potential referendum for all churchgoing Catholics to elect the new Pope rather than having the conclave elect him. An all-girls team from Vermont won first place in the debate.

On April 28, several members of the debate team made their way to New York City, sponsored by law firm Bickel & Brewer. Six teams from NYUAD were invited to the square. The teams, upon arrival, were placed into the top sixteen.

“The topic was released months ago for NYC,” Leb said. “My partner, [freshman] Krishan Mistry and I prepared for months, starting slowly at first, but finishing with more than 50 pages of evidence. Even with all of our evidence, I was surprised at how much about the topic we hadn't researched that other teams knew a lot about.”

Leb also mentioned that the format of the debate in NY was very similar to U.S. Policy Debate, which is different from British Parliamentary format, the style commonly used by the Debate Society at NYUAD and the style that was used in Vienna and Kiev.

The debate involved — among other things — extensive research on the effects of obscure forms of taxing, tax-loopholes and economic stimulus, and was won by an experienced team from NYUNY. Nevertheless, two NYUAD teams made it to the quarter-finals, each taking home a prize of $1000. The topic for the next Bickle & Brewer debate comes out in September and is open to all students in the Global Network University.

It was only two days after arriving back in Abu Dhabi when the debate team and their coach, undergraduate research manager Tammy Aranki, boarded a plane to Ukraine. Debating in rented summer houses in rural Kiev, the teams performed significantly better in this spring competition than in Vienna. All teams made it to the top ten, where Pell and Leb took home the trophy.

Although the NY trip was paid for by Bickel & Brewer, the NYUAD Debate Team is one of the most traveled SIGs on the school’s roster.

“It’s a valid concern: why is this team travelling to Vienna [and] to Kiev?” Leb said.

Sophomore Norina Miszori, president of the SIG and captain of the competitive team, elaborated on the Debate Society’s extensive travel schedule.

“We cannot compete locally as debate tournaments are one, not hosted in the country and secondly, the crème de la crop in terms of judges, trainers and debaters convene in specific parts of the world of which we have no control over. So we have to go,” she said.

Leb continued to explain that part of NYUAD’s mission as one of the only big liberal arts universities in the Gulf is to create a culture of healthy discourse — even about sensitive topics.

“One side of what the Debate Society does is that it attempts to build a debate community here in Abu Dhabi,” said Leb. “Debate is something the Middle East is not used to.”

Leb believes that, from the practice that comes with travelling to big debating venues such as Kiev, the Debate Team will go on to gain skills and abilities that they can then bring back with them to Abu Dhabi.

Misori elaborated on the over-arching purposes of Debate Society.

“Debate society has a twofold purpose,” she said. “First is to spread debate as a platform for discussion in the region where Debate is slowly emerging. Secondly to be an internationally recognised competitive team.”

Back in Abu Dhabi, the Debate Society hosted its second regional debate tournament, which was attended by students from the American University of Sharjah, Middlesex University Dubai, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, and Sharjah Women’s College — Higher Colleges of Technology. These students had their first taste of British Parliamentary format in the Abu Dhabi event, with students from the American University of Sharjah going home as champions.

Next semester, the Debate Society is expecting a large influx of new members, attracted to the chance of travelling overseas to compete. Pell hopes that this will incentivize all the members to work even harder to compete for limited positions. He also hopes that with the team growing, both in size and diversity, more female students will give debate a try.