Scores of college students to square off in NCU debate series
Students from 11 tertiary institutions are gearing up to square off in Northern Caribbean University’s (NCU’s) Invitational Debate Series scheduled for National Heroes’ Day, October 21 on the university’s Mandeville campus.
Some 32 teams are expected to match skills in four rounds of debate that uses the British Parliamentary Style.
Convenor of the debate series Noreen Daley says the event is geared towards influencing critical thinking, wide reading, and tolerance. It is also an opportunity for participants to develop comraderie while developing their articulation skills.
Participating institutions this year are The University of the West Indies, the University of Technology, Jamaica; MICO University College, Caribbean Maritime University and Montego Bay Community College.
The action begins at 8:00 am on match day.
The featured participant this year is Dr Michael D Hester of nationally acclaimed debate powerhouse, University of West Georgia (UWG) in the US, where he is debate director and coordinator of the African-American Male Initiative. hester and his team are expected to conduct individual workshops, in partnership with Jamaican Association for Debating and Empowerment (JADE), for adjudicators and coaches for two-consecutive days prior to the event.
Daley, who is chair of the Department of Communication Studies at NCU, said the one-day debate series aims to tackle a wide range of issues.
“You cannot be an intellectual and know only your area,” said Daley. “If you are going to be able to converse with people, you must have knowledge in as many areas as possible.”
Daley disclosed that as a result of the university’s collaboration with JADE, the Student Debate and Communication Exchange Programme has come to fruition. Under the programme, an NCU debater has already travelled to Orlando, Florida, this school year, while others are slated to participate in a similar exchange with UWG in March, 2020.
She listed one major accomplishment of the NCU debate invitational, now in its seventh year, as the ongoing training that advances the debate agenda in the region as NCU continues to offer free training to not just its students, but also other interested institutions.
The sponsors for this year’s debate series include the Jamaica Observer, Burger King, NCU Media Group, Western Union, Tax Administration Jamaica, Honey Vera, Dolphin Cove, Three Angels Pharmacy, and JADE.
