The Bard Debate Union dominated this past weekend at the Huber Debaters at the University of Vermont (Nov 4-6, 2011). 19 total students, faculty, and staff members attended the tournament with 14 students competing, 2 students judging and coaching, and 3 coaches! This is the most people the Bard Debate Union has ever sent to a tournament in its 8 years of existence! In world’s debate, novice debaters Hanze Song and Conner Gadek qualified for the novice finals and ultimately finished second out of novice 25 teams. Four other Bard worlds teams competed. In policy debate, the varsity team of John Jeworski and Ian Seyer finished in fifth place, with Seyer earning the eighth place speaker award. The novice team of Anna Daniszewski and Max Taylor-Milner also finished in fifth, with Milner winning second place speaker and Daniszewski taking fourth place. Both teams lost 2-1 decisions in the quarter-finals. The tournament, with over 130 teams entered across the two debate formats, was the largest in the Northeast region this fall. The Bard Debate Union was also one of three schools invited to participate in a public debate on the UVM campus Friday night on the topic, “This house would lower the alcohol drinking age to 18.” Other participating schools were Claremont College, Regis University of Denver, and the host University of Vermont. Bard debaters Hanze Song and Lenny Simon represented the Bard Debate Union with poise and charisma and were, in the opinion of the majority of audience members, the victors of the debate. Congratulations to all Bard Debaters who made this an historic tournament for Bard Debate!
