In 2020, I was in the middle of a practice debate, helping a pair of Stuart Hobson debaters prepare for a national round-robin tournament when my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. It was the emergency text system from DC saying that the US Capitol was under siege. Moments later, the students I was debating heard chanting and shouts outside their home. 

The tangible manifestations of disinformation and its amplification via social media isn’t just restricted to politics, but effects every part of our lives, including our mental health. As a result, we were extremely excited to partner with our association, the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL) to kick off the 2022 I-Resolve Public Debate Series here in D.C. 

The first in-person I-Resolve event after years of virtual programming highlighted two brilliant WUDL students, Junior Haven Howard of Phelps Architecture, Construction, and Engineering High School, and Senior Noemie Durand from BASIS DC. Both represented the league at nationals last year, and were no stranger to the bright lights at The Brookings Institution’s Falk Amphitheatre, where the event took place. 

“With I RESOLVE, debaters explore real-world solutions to the pervasive and often problematic practice of disinformation, particularly on social media platforms. Debaters are uniquely positioned to carefully consider and address the intersectionality between policy, technology, and evolving innovations of disinformants.” — Rhonda Haynes, the Executive Director of NAUDL

Each presented well researched cases for a panel of topic experts from Brookings to consider, ranging from Section 230 reform, independent research and evaluation of social media algorithms, and common sense user settings that can better empower a user to control the information they see. 

Our judges called the intellectual firepower on display from Noemie and Haven inspiring, and took away key considerations to ponder on the drive home and in their future research. 

The series continues in Denver next Wednesday, so be sure to check out the live-stream from DUDL! 

Special Thanks To: 

• Chris Mesarole of the Brookings Institution as our host, and to our other esteemed panelists Joe Keller and Valerie Wirtschafter for their thoughtfulness and expertise. We hope you can come check out some debates this year and see the kiddos in action. 
• Rhonda Haynes, Sara Sanchez, and the rest of the NAUDL team for their partnership putting on the event
• McAlister Clabaugh for his tireless work helping the students prepare for a diverse, complex, and nuanced topic.