MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Northern Caribbean University’s (NCU’s) ‘C’ team emerged as top debaters and created history two weeks ago as the first NCU team to win the invitational debate series spearheaded by the Mandeville-based institution.

Thirty-two teams from 10 tertiary institutions squared off in four rounds of British Parliamentary-style debate on the university’s main campus on National Heroes’ Day.

The University of the West Indies, Mona (UWI) ‘A’, the University of Technology (UTech) ‘A’, the University of West Georgia (UWG), and the NCU ‘C’ teams faced off in a nail-biting final on the motion: ‘This house would permit the mandatory taking of citizens’ biometric data in furtherance of tax compliance’.

The NCU team of Terrain Wright and Onyeka Nevins emerged victorious. The UWI Mona team of Jonathan Atkins and Sayeed Bernard placed second, the UWG team of Deon Davidson and Regina Stergis placed third, and the UTech team of Roshelle Pinnock and Cleveland Tomlinson were fourth.

Wright, a second-year communication studies major, said it was his second time entering the competition.

“I was here last year, but the team didn’t reach the final; I was a part of a swing team last year. This year I was fortunate enough to have an actual team and prepare with my teammate, and really put our hard work into action and come out on top,” he said.

His teammate Nevins, a fourth-year religion and theology major, talked about the pair’s development.

“This has been a process; a journey of hard work,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “This is my first time reaching the final. In prior years I never even reached the semis. A lot of growth has taken place in regard to my teammate and I over the year, and moreso within the last two months,” said Nevins.

Convenor of the debate series and coach of the NCU team, Noreen Daley said the annual event was a success.

“The NCU Invitational Debate series has been around since 2013, and evolved out of a competition called the Great Debate. It is a lot of work, but at the end of the day when you see young people being engaged in something positive, especially of an intellectual nature, it makes it worth it,” said Daley.

“I didn’t do this alone. I have to thank those within the Department of Communication Studies that made this happen, the sponsors, the projects team, special events and the technical crew,” said Daley.

The NCU debaters are now focused on winning the Jamaica Association for Debating and Empowerment (JADE) 2019 Academy and Open, in December at UTech.

The sponsors for this year’s debate series included the Jamaica Observer, Burger King, NCU Media Group, Western Union, Tax Administration Jamaica, Honey Vera, Dolphin Cove, Three Angels Pharmacy, and JADE.