Chicago Debate Society

Earlier this month, some members of our novice class competed in their first ever APDA tournament! We are so proud of our novices and can't wait to see what they'll achieve in the future! 🥺🥺

CDS is back in action! Our debaters have had a blast these past few weeks travelling, competing, exploring new cities, and taking on other miscellaneous side quests (shoutout Laufey). Congratulations to all our debaters for a great start to the season!

Are you ready to debate? Check out our Fall 2025 Novice Programming schedule! We can't wait to meet all of you! 😊😊

‼️‼️If you haven't already, join our mailing list (link in bio) to stay updated on weekly practices, socials, and other happenings!

🚨🚨Our fall 2025 recruitment has begun!!
Join us at one of our info sessions or check us out at the Student Activities & Resource fair to learn more about CDS! We hope to see you there!

Our final spotlight to wrap up 🎁 the summer is CDS’s wonderful President🤴, Jonathan Chen! Jonathan, more commonly known as JC, is a rising third-year from Taichung, Taiwan studying political science and philosophy 🤔.

Outside of CDS, JC works for the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, and is on the board of the Taiwanese American Student Association. Some hobbies of his include biking to the Point, violating numerous health codes 🦠😷 trying out new Instagram reels recipes, or trying various flavors of Dutch crunch sandwiches at Cafe 53 - he notes that the “eggplant meatball 🍆🥩 is so underrated.” 😬 Well...if you say so! He is a self-avowed "loyal follower 🫡 of Triple Crowne's dim sum selections" and "started off as a French Press matcha-espresso enjoyer" but has since transitioned to Americanos to "dodge the performative male allegations." 💔 He listen to "all types of music" but is a big fan of "Indie/R&B, Mandopop, and any cello concertos from the Romantic period." Some favorites include Schoolgirl byebye 👩‍🎓👋, The Marias, Jay Chou, Laufey, and Maroon 5!

This summer, JC worked for the Chicago Project on Security 🚨 and Threats 💣, where his projects consisted of “understanding 🧐 and predicting 📈 the behavior of right-wing extremist groups" and "practicing applications of AI technology into political science research.” “Those of you who know my past with data science/computer science coursework would find this a surprising 😧 development,” he notes, “but yet I survived!” 💪💪 He also worked as a research assistant for a Taiwanese constitutional law professor. Additionally, he’s spent time reading Taiwanese literature, where his favorite authors include Sanmao and Yang-mu. He also had a great time exploring Chicago - some highlights include "going on walks 🚶🚶across the Chicago river , trying literally every dimsum restaurant with my two best friends from home 😋🥟, finally visiting the Chinatown branch of the Chicago Public library, wandering around the Art Institute 🎨🏛️with none other than Tanya!" Banger!

I hope these spotlights were enjoyable 😃😃. Come to our info sessions to meet all these cool CDSers!

On May 9th, CDS hosted the annual UChicago Langfan Constitutional Debate Tournament, a constitutional law tournament for novice debaters. The topic for this year’s competition was the ongoing Trump v. Wilcox SCOTUS case.

Vedesh and Jackson won the tournament and took home a $3000 cash prize! Kevin and Spencer from ended up as finalists, and won $1000. Thank you to everyone who competed and judged!!!

⚖️💰🏆

Annndddd...that's a wrap on the 2024-2025 APDA season!!

CDS had a blast attending APDA Nationals in New York City!! We were awarded Club of the Year for the third year in a row. Ale Perri ('25) and Roy Tiefer ('25) won Team of the Year and reached finals, and Ale also took home Speaker of the Year. We can't wait to see what CDS will accomplish next year!!

🏆🗽🌆

Meet the 2025-26 CDS Executive Board!! A huge thank you to our outgoing board for all of their amazing work this past year. 😊😊

🥹 Our final post covering the regular tournament season — we are now officially club of the year!!! Congrats to everyone for a stellar wrap to the year👏 Next stop: Nationals🤭🏆

🥶Be prepared because this week, we’re wrapping up all that the Chicago Debate Society has been up to this quarter!! Starting with early spring, dare I say… we ATE??😮‍💨 Congrats to our debaters for championing/finalling almost every tournament we’ve been to, and I’m so excited for what’s to come🏆

🔥A little late but better than never, I’m thrilled to report that CDS stayed on our A-game throughout the latter part on winter quarter👏 Winter storms and seasonal depression have got nothing on our debaters, who braved through delayed flights, blizzards, and 4am wake ups and ventured across the East Coast for tournaments. Massive shoutout to our novice class for absolutely SWEEPING at pro-ams — we are so proud of y’all🥹

💌Happy Valentines weekend from Chicago Debate Society to you! The GMs (gender-minorities) of CDS gathered on Thursday for a lovely night of cooking, feasting, and yapping to celebrate the season of love💘🍷Thank you to everyone for coming and showing off your salami rose skills!!