North Allegheny 1 of 2 local schools in final round of international debate contest
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A team of five students from North Allegheny traveled to New York City April 30 to compete in the final round of an international debate competition they’d been participating in since October.
The team — consisting of William Sun, Daksh Goyal, Vikram Nagarajan, Srivatsa Bellamkomda and Adi Mallik — was one of eight from around the world to make it to the final round of the 21st Annual Brewer Foundation/New York University International Public Policy Forum debate competition.
Though the team lost in its first debate in the finals, coach Sharon Volpe said just making it to that round is an accomplishment.
“That’s still top eight, which is amazing,” she said.
Nearby Pine-Richland ultimately won the final contest, which was held in a hybrid fashion and included schools from five U.S. states, Canada and Singapore.
Each quarterfinalist team earned $750. The winning Pine-Richland team earned $5,000 for its debate program and $5,000 in individual scholarships for participating students.
North Allegheny had two additional teams competing in earlier rounds, but they did not advance to the “elite eight” final round.
In October, Volpe said, teams wrote debate essays to enter the competition. All three North Allegheny teams’ essays advanced to the top 64.
Teams would then debate via essays and written rebuttals, with teams eliminated as the bracket continued, she said. The top eight teams advanced to live debates in New York City.
There, Volpe said, the students debated in front of a panel of judges, including NYU President Emeritus John Sexton, NYU Stern School of Business Dean Raghu Sundaram, Above the Law Senior Editor Kathryn Rubino, Slovenia-based international debate coach and communication teacher Miha Andric and William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and co-founder of the IPPF.
“This partnership between NYU and the Brewer Foundation celebrates a unique expression of debate — involving months of written scholarship, oral advocacy, and the chance to compete on a global stage,” Sexton said in a statement after the competition. “As a member of the IPPF judging panel, I have enormous confidence in these students — and the power they have to positively impact the world around them. They are destined for great things.”
Founded in 2001, the IPPF touts itself as the only competition that gives high schoolers around the world the chance to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy for free.
“I love this competition, because it does give them a chance to put their writing skills to the test,” Volpe said. “This is also very speech-related.”
Plus, for the finalists who traveled to New York, she said, it was an exciting experience. The team got to visit Central Park and watch a performance of the smash hit “Hamilton,” she said.
“It requires a huge commitment on their part,” Volpe said. “Once you get into those rounds, the competition is tough.”
Volpe said North Allegheny last made an appearance in the “elite eight” in 2017.