In conjunction with the upcoming Hannah Arendt Center Annual Conference (Sept 21-22, Does the President Matter?) the Bard Debate Union opened their 2012-2013 public debate series by debating a very timely and important issue. The topic of the debate was “Resolved: The President Doesn’t Matter.” With four students arguing for this motion (Nick Luongo, Eva Prost, Lee Gensler, and Connor Gadek) and four arguing against (Robert Isaf, Lenny Simon, Hanze Song, and Saim Saeed), the debate was packed with fascinating examples, facts, and rhetorical questions. Despite many events going on on campus that Wednesday night (Sept 19) the debate drew a crowd of over 50 people (faculty, staff, and students) and had numerous viewers following the debate live online (the debate was live-streamed!). The audience members had many questions for the debaters after the debate ended, proving that the debate most certainly caused people to think. “What a great start to the new year,” said coaches Ruth Zisman and David Register. “We couldn’t be happier with how much work the students put into make this event a true success.” The team is now switching gears and getting ready for their first tournament of the year next weekend (Sept 28-30) at the University of Rochester. Go Bard Debate!
