Last year, Congressman Raskin proclaimed that “those two speeches would be in the top ten best speeches of the 118th Congress.” Look out 118th Congress — the consensus from the audience this year was that this was the best I-Resolve yet, 

We often joke that WUDL students have better debates than those that occur downtown in the halls of Congress (indeed, one of our judges made that exact comparison). Every time we hear our students speak, we have more proof of that fact. 

This year’s I-Resolve pitted Marcus, from Forest Park in Baltimore, against Sandiyah, from Eleanor Roosevelt in Prince George’s County, a testament to the growing geographic reach of WUDL programs.

 Marcus, WUDL’s New Debater of the Year for 2024-25, has been passionate about AI issues since we met last year, and even wrote his affirmative case about this year’s Arctic topic about Data Center expansion. He’s taken his passion for AI to the state legislature, where he is lobbying for expanded opportunities for Black and Brown Youth in the AI space, putting his debate skills into practice. When we settled on the topic, we knew that this opportunity would be a perfect platform to share his passion for the subject. 

Marcus said of the experience “I-Resolve was a personal “proof”. In policy debate, I’ve wondered: how do I transfer the skills I’ve gained? The opportunity to deliver my passions to a lay audience and learn is a personal revolution.”

Sandiyah, also a standout debater who participated on the WUDL Travel Team last year, has been on the bench thus far, waiting for her partner to get healthy. For those underestimating them as a result, watch out. 

She said of the experience “I-Resolve was everything that I appreciate about debate all in one packed into one event. It allowed me to apply my debate skills in a real world context, learn from industry professionals and other knowledgeable people rather than just a textbook, and explore a place I wouldn’t normally have the chance to visit- the Edlavitch Jewish Center. I appreciate the opportunity to participate, and I hope this form of learning becomes more popularity inside and outside of the debate space!”

Both sides delivered unusually specific, incisive, and well impacted arguments about the potential benefits of Artificial Intelligence, that, with the right interventions, could be a path to increasing black wealth and decreasing inequality, or could enable runaway corporate greed and environmental destruction. 

Judges Jose Cantu (Director of Defense and Intelligence at Jaxon.AI) and Dr. Margarita Konaev (Head of Responsible AI @ Google Public Sector, appearing in her personal capacity), were thrilled. The judges repeatedly cited the way that the way the students cut through the noise and clickbait related to AI, both the doom and gloom prognostications and the hyperbole about its economic impacts was particularly impressive, a tribute to how debate teaches media literacy, even in a world where that skill is vanishingly rare and exceedingly difficult to master. 

Both panelists also spoke to the power of debate (Jose is an alumni of the Houston Urban Debate League) or the skills it develops in the workplace, with Dr. Konaev pointing out the importance of clear, powerful, persuasive writing as a determinant when she hires staff. 

We are incredibly grateful to the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center for hosting us, and to sponsors Liz and Ron Sandler, The Asia Group, and Kellogg Frederick LLC for sponsoring the event. 

The regular season continues Saturday, Nov. 22nd @ Theodore Roosevelt High School   — we’ll see you there!