New York City Urban Debate League

We ❤️ Debate Access
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Creating academic debate access is not just about finding neighborhoods without debate opportunities and offering tournaments. It is about introducing the fundamentals in an accessible way so that students will understand and enjoy until they are proficient enough to be completely autonomous.

We spend hundreds of hours each year on our scaffolded curriculum and are always working to improve its clarity and accessibility. Each coach has access to a Google Classroom filled with resources for teaching both debate skills and the tournament's specific resolution.

Since we train teachers to be coaches rather than students to be debaters, the effort we put into our curriculum is one of our most important accessibility projects and one of the ways that we show love to our students. A donation to our end-of-year campaign is a great way to support this work. Will you help us make debate possible for every student?

We are so grateful for the December holidays—for the opportunity to relax and recharge with friends and family. Sending peace, love, and DEBATE JOY to you!

We ❤️ Celebrating Achievements
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We believe that hard work and dedication should always be rewarded. Every tournament is a chance for our students to not only win rounds but also improve their skills. We recognize all types of effort so that each student will be motivated to be a better debater and citizen.

We reward sportsmanship: The Spirit of Debate Award recognizes students who show kindness and enthusiasm toward their teammates and opponents.

We reward perseverance: If you keep showing up, no matter the outcome, you will be rewarded. At the final tournament of the year, students earn gold, silver, or bronze medals in accordance with the number of rounds debated, regardless of competitive success.

We reward effort: Debate is hard work! All our students are celebrated with t-shirts, stickers, and treats to recognize the mental effort and the emotional bravery of a tournament day.

In the 2023-2024 season, the League spent $40,500 to celebrate sportsmanship, perseverance, and effort (as well as winning) through trophies, medals, and other awards. The impacts of debate cannot be realized if the students do not show up, so we invite you to help us create these motivators by donating today. With your support, we can continue to foster a culture of recognition that goes beyond just winning—and acknowledges the whole journey.

Happy Holidays!
The NYCUDL Team

🎁 That's a Wrap on December!
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The busiest December yet for the New York City Urban Debate League is officially in the books. With the help of our host schools, district partners, volunteer judges, and coaches, we were able to offer eight tournaments, one program kick off, and a holiday open house over the course of just fifteen days!

We spent December all over the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn where we hosted 1,475 rounds of debate in total. Students tackled resolutions on the cash bail system, civil disobedience as a form of protest, US-China relations, and the benefits/harms of zoos.

We are so proud to announce that in December alone we were able to offer academic debate opportunities to 1,472 students. Our end-of-year giving campaign ends soon, will you help us reach our goal for tomorrow's diverse, informed, and courageous leaders?

What a passionate day of debate! The photos tell the tale. Congratulations to the 262 debaters and the 32 schools who competed at University Heights High School on Saturday.

Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mSTmUAPwXsSB6PdD8

We ❤️ District 8
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181 of our youngest debaters competed last week in the first District 8 tournament of the season. We're grateful to our first-time host school PS 130 Abram Stevens Hewitt and to their mascot, Tony the Tiger, who visited the tournament to observe rounds on the zoo resolution. 🐯

Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zJVuhB4BHdPuPFEx6

We ❤️ Our Language Learners
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Our mission to create access for historically underrepresented students in debate led us to launch the New New Yorkers program in District 10 last year. These English Language Learners debate the same topics as our other partner districts. However, they are split into the divisions "Emerging/Entering" or "Transitioning/Expanding" so that they can receive support according to their level of English proficiency. Their inaugural tournament last May was a huge success! Students engaged in passionate debates on the topic of year-round schooling.

We look forward to their next tournament in January—please consider supporting the New New Yorkers by making a donation to our end-of-year campaign. Your support will help us continue to create spaces for students to feel safe, welcome, and ready to debate—exactly as they are.

We were at PS 003 The Bedford Village in Brooklyn last Thursday for the first District 13 tournament of the season. Fresh off our topic field trip to the Bronx Zoo, the students brought insightful and passionate speeches to debate our zoo resolution. Thank you to LAC Co-Chair, Brad Drummond, and the other Axiom attorneys who came to judge and support the tournament.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MJmFKXNbEbiZjkTSA

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Thank you, Corona Arts & Sciences Academy for hosting our Middle School Open League tournament on Saturday and thank you Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz for visiting and supporting. The debaters tackled our new league topic on civil disobedience in public forum and parliamentary debate formats. Way to go, teams!

Album:https://photos.app.goo.gl/zTA1ge3LMyLt1fN96

District 7 in the South Bronx is one of our oldest district partnerships and one of our favorite places to host debate. As you can see from the pictures, their first tournament last Thursday was a lively one! Thank you to the devoted coaches, the passionate debaters, and the generous attorneys at Morrison Foerster who continue to make District 7 a supportive and loving place to debate.

Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tj83XR8d3kYa6RVBA
Donate: debate.nyc/donate

Thank you to District 39 Assemblywoman, Catalina Cruz, who visited our Open League tournament on Saturday. Corona Academy of Arts & Sciences hosted the tournament, so Ms. Cruz was able to meet with and encourage the host school debaters as well as the IS 230 debaters who all go to school in her district. Thank you again! We appreciate your involvement and advocacy so much.

The Resolution: December Edition

Keep up with all the exciting events going on in our busy League as we wind up another year of academic debate access in NYC!

Read: https://mailchi.mp/45937bbb1c8a/the-resolution-december-edition-9tm2z6fy2b-9294753

Donate: debate.nyc/donate

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⏰ There are only four hours left to support The New York City Urban Debate League on Giving Tuesday. All donations will be matched until we reach our goal, and donations over $100 receive a gift! Thank you so much for investing in the next generation of diverse, informed, and courageous leaders.

We ❤️ Your Support!
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It's Giving Tuesday! All donations will be matched until our goal is met. Donations over $100 receive a gift. Thank you so much for showing ❤️ to our debaters. We are so incredibly grateful!

We are excited to announce a donation match! From now until the end of 2024, all donations to the "I ❤️ Debate" campaign will be matched until we reach our goal of $25,000. Why help one debater when you could help two?

We ❤️ Spending Time Together
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When school is out, the NYCUDL is in! There's no place we would rather have our debaters be when they are not at school than at our office reflecting on the holiday, working on their debate skills, and having fun together. In the past few years, we have offered workshops on Indigenous People's Day, Election Day, Veterans Day, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We have had movie nights for Latine Heritage month and taken our students on tours of the West Village to learn the history of Pride Month. We even took some of our young women debaters to ring the bell at NASDAQ on International Day of the Girl.

You can help us host these workshops and events by making a donation today. We love being able to offer educational and engaging experiences for our debaters outside of tournament days. Will you join us in showing full-calendar love to our debaters?