Student News & Events

Matthew Harris-Ornstein Summer Debate Institute Turns 10 Years Old! Vennela and Marco debated Sangeeth and Jacob during a practice round, focusing being persuasive, not just being right. When we were crowded into four multi-purpose rooms at the Hill Center 10 years ago, we didn’t think about reaching a 10th anniversary. We couldn’t imagine having more […]

WUDL ES Program Triples in Size in 2nd Spring Tournament! The best Elementary school debaters from each school participating this Spring — Not pictured, Neval Thomas’s Amir and Akeem Have you ever seen a team do the macarena to warm up for a debate?    I hadn’t, but that’s part of the joy of elementary

WUDL Wins Middle School Nationals! Washington Urban Debate League’s 2024 Middle School National Qualifiers and Coaches! This year, the competition to qualify for Middle School Nationals was fiercer than ever, with a record number of competitors. Beyond the numbers of competitors, the level of research and prep has astonished me. Some teams wrote entirely new

WUDL in Elimination Rounds at Urban Debate National Championship, Again! Center City Trinidad has some of the best shirts of our Spring Team Shirt program, and Jaida brought home a lot of swag to go with it! WUDL returned to Chicago, the host of the league’s first Urban Debate National Championship in 2016. Back then,

WUDL Returns From Tournament of Champions Danielle, David, Sitara, Messai, and Daniella at the Tournament of Champions. Not Pictured, Aaron Torop, our local coaching reinforcements Just like the road to qualify to the Tournament of Champions, the competition on site was cut-throat.  Preparation for the tournament started months ago, reviewing the basics and organizing specialized

WUDL Debates Australia! Madison (Mario) and Marshall (Luigi) have had lots of fun debating all season (including Halloween). This past weekend, their season took on an international twist. Debate is rooted in the intellectual tradition of many cultures, from the famous orators of Greek and Roman history to village councils and religious gatherings worldwide. It’s

Primeos Del Torneo: Debate En Espanol Ligas Del Este 2024 WUDL students from 3 schools — Charles Flowers, DC International, and Oyster Adams, led the way as we explored the world of bilingual debate Our mission at the Washington Urban Debate League is to evangelize for the expansion of debate programs to all students, especially

Full Results: WUDL District Tournament 2024 Center City Trinidad has some of the best shirts of our Spring Team Shirt program, and Jaida brought home a lot of swag to go with it! We wrapped up the WUDL regular season at the District Finals Tournament. Even this late in the season, we still had a

WUDL 2022 End of Year Awards: Coaches and Volunteers New Coach of the Year Rafia Rifa, Thurgood Marshall Academy Coach of the Year Forest Gertin, Forest Park High School Washington Urban Debate wrapped up season 2023 – 2024 on a high note with our End of Year awards. These awards are given to students, coaches,

WUDL Celebrates End Of Year Team Awards BASIS DC, the 2024 Sweepstakes Winners (missing a few folks) Washington Urban Debate wrapped up season 2023 – 2024 on a high note with our End of Year awards. These awards are given out to students, coaches, schools, and volunteers that have demonstrated consistent excellence across the entire