Urban Debate In The News
Urban debate has been in the news in recent weeks, primarily concerning coverage of the NAUDL’s hosting of the first Chase Urban Debate National Championship.
In the run-up to the tournament, several local newspapers featured articles on the teams who would be representing their cities in the National Championship. Examples include these reports from the Boston Globe, the Dallas Morning News, the Valley Breeze (Rhode Island), and the Hyde School Newsletter (Washington D.C.).
Not surprisingly, the hometown National Champions from Lane Tech received substantial publicity about their win. The Chicago Tribune reported on the National Champions in this article. A nearly 8-minute interview on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” featured National Champions Andrew Hobaugh and Nick Locke. To watch the video, go to this site, scroll down the right column to April 10, and click on “Debate Champs.” Finally, the magazine Chicago Defender published two articles on the participation of the Chicago teams in the National Championship, including an article on Nate Parker’s (an actor in the recent film “The Great Debaters”) visit to the tournament and Annual Dinner.
The National Championship team received recognition by the United States Congress. U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel submitted this statement to the Congressional Record which announced: “Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Lane Technical High School on their victory at the first Chase Urban Debate National Championship held in Chicago last weekend. I want to specifically congratulate Lane Tech students Andrew Hobaugh and Nick Locke for taking first place in the tournament.”
The results of the tournament were reported in several major newspapers. The Washington Post published an article about the local D.C.-area representatives that competed in the tournament. The team of Angela Lubkeman and Betika McKeever had a winning record, including a prelim round victory over the eventual National Championship Lane Tech team.
The Top Speaker at the Chase Urban Debate National Championship was Kansas City Central High School’s Sean Easterwood. The Kansas City Star published an excellent article about Sean, his coach Jane Rinehart and the value that Sean sees in his participation in debate.
Also on that weekend, the NAUDL, in conjunction with sponsorship from numerous law firms, foundations, and corporations, held the first Annual Dinner at the University Club of Chicago. One of the primary sponsors was the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. In this press release they document their support of urban debate and the NAUDL’s mission. The firm of Wildman Herrold released a similar report of their support for the NAUDL’s Dinner and urban debate in general. Finally, the firm of Bracewell & Giuliani explain their partnership with the NAUDL and the Annual Dinner in this release.
More broadly, The National Law Journal, a publication that pens timely legal information of national importance, recently published this article extolling the virtues of developing pipelines projects that create diverse pools of high school students that are interested in college, career networking, and ultimately careers in various professions, such as law. They prominently mention the work of law firms partnering with the NAUDL to develop successful Urban Debate Leagues.
Not every published account of urban debate concerned the Chase Urban Debate National Championship and the NAUDL’s Annual Dinner. For example, this news release by the Lt. Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, congratulated the Chicago Debate League’s champion and second place teams.
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No debating Mabel Peters Caruth's legacy in Dallas
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, April 27, 2008
bmiller@dallasnews.com
The Communities Foundation of Texas has received two bequests totaling $24 million from the estate of Mabel Peters Caruth that will double its ability to award competitive grants.
Using bequests from Mrs. Caruth, who died in December 2000, along with existing discretionary funds, Communities Foundation trustees will increase the amount awarded annually through the foundation's competitive grants process from $1 million to nearly $2 million.
The new Mabel Peters Caruth Fund will support nonprofit organizations that deliver education and social services and, according to her wishes, provide amounts to many organizations rather than large grants to a few.
Nonprofit agencies can apply for the competitive grants in the spring and fall. Unlike the foundation's donor-advised grants, which offer charitable support across the country, the discretionary grants remain local.
"All of us at Communities Foundation of Texas are grateful to Mabel Peters Caruth for her vision, compassion and generosity," said Charles J. Wyly Jr., chairman of the Communities Foundation's board of trustees. "We're honored by the trust she placed in the foundation to use the funds to benefit the community in the manner she wanted."
Long association
The Communities Foundation of Texas' relationship with the pioneering Caruth family dates to 1974, when W.W. "Will" Caruth Jr., Mrs. Caruth's husband, established the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation in connection with the Communities Foundation.
"Through Communities Foundation of Texas, their generosity is able to improve the lives of many more North Texans," Mr. Wyly said.
Shortly before her death, Mrs. Caruth announced that she would bequeath $34 million to the foundation to buy land for, build and endow the foundation's current headquarters at Caruth Haven Lane and Central Expressway.
In addition, the Communities Foundation just announced the recipients of this spring's competitive grants, totaling more than $617,000. The grants were given to 19 local nonprofit organizations.
An example of Mrs. Caruth's desire to provide modest amounts to many nonprofits is reflected in the Mabel Peters Caruth Fund grant of $35,000 to the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance to fund a summer debate institute.
The alliance, working with the Dallas Independent School District, is a public-private partnership that takes debate programs to urban students.
Eleven DISD high schools are participating, and by fall, the program will serve 18 schools, including almost every DISD regular high school that does not have an existing debate program.
"Debate programs are valuable learning tools that improve academic performance, increase test scores and graduation rates, enhance college readiness and develop leadership skills," said Brent Christopher, president and chief executive of the Communities Foundation.
Craig W. Budner, administrative partner of the Dallas office of the K&L Gates law firm and interim chairman of the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance's advisory board, said Communities Foundation leaders provided invaluable assistance.
"Their guidance and coaching were instrumental in allowing us to start urban debate in Dallas," he said. "The advisory board couldn't be more pleased with the success of the program's first year."
The Communities Foundation of Texas, a public charity founded in 1953, works with donors and nonprofit groups as well as funding organizations. It both manages assets and makes grants.
As the largest such foundation in Texas, the Communities Foundation manages more than 800 funds. It has distributed more than $900 million in grants since its inception.
Pioneer family
The Caruth family harks back to 1848 in the Dallas area, three years after Texas became a state. William Caruth arrived here from Kentucky with his horse, $100, a gold watch, a pistol and a vision. He sent word back home to his brother Walter to join him.
With $1,000 borrowed from their father, they opened a general store near downtown Dallas, then invested in land that eventually stretched from what is now White Rock Lake westward past Preston Road from Mockingbird Lane north to Forest Lane.
William Caruth's sole surviving son, W.W. "Will" Caruth Sr., continued to amass acreage and in 1911 donated land to Southern Methodist University to persuade it to locate in Dallas rather than Fort Worth.
His wife, Earle Clark Caruth, founded the Hillcrest Foundation.
Their son, W.W. Caruth Jr., who died in 1990, expanded into building materials while continuing the family's role in real estate, donating parcels of land to the nonprofit sector along the way.
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Debate Teams Coming to Some Memphis Schools
By Dakarai I. Aarons
commercialappeal.com
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Memphis will soon boast an urban debate league, with groups slated to start at 14 high schools this fall.
The Memphis Board of Education approved an agreement between the district and the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues to create the program, already present in more than 15 urban school districts nationwide.
View videos: Urban Debate League Coming to Memphis Schools | Debate Teams Coming to Some City Schools
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Tampa lawyer argues for launching urban debate league
By Rodney Thrash, Times Staff Writer, St. Petersburg Times
In print: Wednesday, May 7, 2008
TAMPA — In December, Barry Cohen sat inside the WestShore AMC theaters. He had come to watch The Great Debaters, which starred Denzel Washington and chronicled the improbable national championship run of the 1935 debate team from historically black Wiley College. By the end of the two-hour movie, Cohen found himself in line, purchasing a ticket for the film's next show.
That night inspired the high-powered Tampa lawyer to fund a free screening for 200 schoolchildren, most of them African-American or low-income.
And now he and a national organization want to start an urban debate league within Hillsborough schools. Since 1997, the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues has increased the number of African-American and low-income students in academic debate programs from Chicago to Baltimore.
In Baltimore, where the graduation rate is only 34.6 percent — the third-worst in the country, according to a 2007 Education Week study — 90 percent of the city's urban debaters graduate on time, and 90 percent go on to college.
"Debate channels high school kids' competitiveness into a ruthlessly academic activity," said Leonard Gail, chairman of the association's board. "You can't help but be educated and improve your reasoning skills and your research skills with debate. You just can't help it."
It is not clear the kind of commitment the district would have to make for a competitive league to work. And no one knows how much it would cost taxpayers. That, Gail said, would depend on the number of schools that participate. For every dollar the school system invests, the national association contributes at least $1.50, he said.
Brandon and Freedom High already have debate clubs, district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said. So do the International Baccalaureate programs at Hillsborough and King High.
"It sounds like a great opportunity for inner-city kids," Cobbe said. "If there's some kind of grant involved, that will help. The budget situation is very tight this year."
If the cost is too great, officials might consider a pilot version of the program as part of the district's after-school program, Cobbe said. "We have grant funding for that," she said.
Gail and Cohen will make their pitch to Hillsborough officials at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
"All it takes is one identification: 'I want to be like that. I want to have the feeling of winning like they felt in the movie,' " said Cohen. "Before you know it, the child is a winner."
Rodney Thrash can be reached at rthrash@sptimes.com or (813) 269-5303.
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Debate workshop previews league coming to 14 Memphis schools
By Dakarai I. Aarons / aarons@commercialappeal.com
Friday, July 11, 2008
"It's not personal, it's business."
With that mantra in mind, more than three dozen high school students sharpened their analytical and speaking skills at a weeklong debate workshop at Overton High.
The Memphis Urban Debate League, approved in May by the Memphis Board of Education though a partnership with the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, will start at 14 city high schools this fall.
The teams will debate in monthly matches from September to January, with a championship in
February, said Michael Smith, a principal on special assignment for student support services.
Memphis marks the 20th of 25 such urban debate leagues to be established in the nation, said Les Lynn, senior program consultant for the national association. The first such modern leagues started in New York, Atlanta and Chicago in the late 1990s.
Debate among students in U.S. cities has been promoted though the release of the Denzel Washington film "The Great Debaters" last fall.
The topic for debate this year: "Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the United States."
That topic, a hot button issue during the presidential campaign, required students to spend the week learning about biofuels, nuclear power and alternatives to using fossil fuels.
A heady policy debate for high school students, but Lynn said that is precisely the point.
"The real magic quality that it has is the students are debating and all the learning is high quality, but they are having fun doing it." he said.
Academic debates allows schools "to increase academic achievement in a way that brings together the excitement and pleasure of sports competition with very rigorous, research-based critical-thinking exercises."
C.L. Baugh, a history and economics teacher at Memphis Health Careers Academy, said he was drawn to coaching students because of his own experience in debate.
"I know the value of it, and I know it enriches the lives of students in addition to the fact it promotes reading and overall interest in educational achievement," he said.
Teenagers have a lot of creative energy, and debate gives them an outlet for it, Baugh said.
Oakhaven High senior Danielle Fields said she was excited there's finally a debate program in Memphis.
"I'm competitive, so it's another thing to get good at," she said.
Fields said she hopes her debate skills will help translate into a scholarship.
"After you get past the logic, it is so much fun," she said. "You get to express yourself."
-- Dakarai I. Aarons: 529-6515
