New York City Urban Debate League

Join us live for tonight's ceremony!

We are gathering at Tribeca Rooftop to celebrate our students, our community, and honor the 2026 Champions of Debate.

The program will be streamed from 7:30-9:45pm.
2026 Gala Livestream: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4749619307?pwd=R2ZzWm9WRXRVV1ZnbnNSb1pHYUlxdz09
PW: nycudl

The June edition of The Resolution is here!

In this issue, we look back on the 2025-2026 season close and forward to our annual Champions of Debate gala tonight.

👉 Read newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/d0345eb4d6d8/the-resolution-june-edition-dopzupncww-9303925
👉 Livestream the gala (7:45pm on 6/4/26): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4749619307?pwd=R2ZzWm9WRXRVV1ZnbnNSb1pHYUlxdz09 (PW: nycudl)

The NYCUDL was featured on NY1 this morning in a segment covering our NYC Reads Middle School Championships at CUNY School of Law! 🎉

The story highlights the ways debate helps students build confidence, critical thinking, and public speaking skills, and features reflections from students, teachers, and our CEO Amisha Mody Mehta about the impact of this work across New York City.

We are grateful for the opportunity to spotlight our community, and excited to continue celebrating them at tomorrow’s Champions of Debate Gala. debate.nyc/gala

https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2026/06/02/debate--education--schools-?cid=share_clip

NYC Urban Debate League provides students with critical skills This year, they served more than 4,200 students from 265 schools.

The Adolescent Literacy Program (ALP) wrapped up its second year with an inter-school tournament between MS 61 (Brooklyn) and Corona Arts and Sciences Academy (Queens) on May 26. Supported through a three-year partnership with the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), ALP teaches debate to strengthen literacy and academic confidence for students. Throughout the year, students from both schools also participated in NYCUDL Open League tournaments, showing strong growth in both participation and performance.

Using the Public Forum format, students debated the resolution: Resolved: Actions should be judged more based on the intended outcome rather than the actual outcome. The tournament gave newer debaters an opportunity to compete in a supportive, low-stakes environment while building excitement for future debates.

Select middle school debaters from across our district programs gathered at Milbank for this year’s Middle School Varsity Championship. After competing within their own districts all season, students came together for a citywide tournament designed to help students envision themselves in professional legal spaces.

Congratulations to our Middle School Varisty Champions from JHS 22 in District 9! Thank you to Milbank for hosting and to Patrick Donnelly and Kelsey Rustigian for helping make the tournament possible.

This year marked our first-ever Middle School Novice Cross-District Championship. Hosted at Morgan Lewis, the tournament brought together top novice students from Districts 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, and 16 for a full day of debate judged primarily by practicing attorneys.

Congratulations to MS 337 in District 8 for capturing the inaugural Middle School Novice championship! Special thanks to Morgan Lewis for hosting and to Ari Selman, Annamaria Santamaria, and Elliot Abreu for their support throughout the event.

The Elementary School Cross-District Championship brought together top debaters from Districts 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, and 16 for a culminating citywide competition at White & Case law firm. Throughout the regular season, students compete within their own districts—but at Cross-Districts, select debaters come together to represent their communities in front of practicing attorneys in professional legal spaces.

Congratulations to PS 9 in District 13 for winning this year’s Elementary School championship! We are deeply grateful to White & Case for hosting us again and especially to Charu Chitwan and Hannelore Sklar for helping make the event possible.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PRUD2nbhRTsdtbH46

It is our final tournament push of the school year, and we need your help to finish strong!

We are currently on red alert for judge coverage at nearly all of our May tournaments. No debate experience is required — just a willingness to support NYC students as they find their voices through debate.

We'd like to especially highlight this Thursday's tournament (May 21).
✔️Short time commitment: 12pm-3pm
✔️At our office in the city—25 Broadway, NY, NY
✔️New program that we are incredibly excited about!

Upcoming opportunities:
📍 May 21 — Debate & Graduate Showcase (Thur, May 21)
📍 May 28 — High School Elective Tournament (Thur, May 28)
📍 May 29 — NYC Reads Middle School Championship (Fri, May 29)

Volunteer judges truly shape the tournament experience for our debaters, and we would love to have you join us.

Sign up forms for each tournament on our website at debate.nyc/judges

That’s a wrap on the regular season for NYC Reads! 📚🗣️

Tournament 3 brought together 625 students from 39 schools at Brooklyn Tech to tackle the resolution: “The United States should mandate that all people are organ donors after their death.” Across hundreds of rounds, debaters explored questions of ethics, autonomy, public health, and equity with thoughtfulness and care.

Next up: the NYC Reads Championship Tournament on Friday, May 29 at CUNY School of Law. We can’t wait to celebrate an incredible season and close out the year strong.

Interested in supporting our students? Volunteer as a judge:
👉 https://airtable.com/appIezc5BOiGtPWcA/pagvoXu8ZbBJw9cPc/form

📸 Photos from the tournament:
👉 https://photos.app.goo.gl/ciRY5wDovRkEBXwB6