Decisions are made by those who show up. At the Washington Urban Debate League, we take those words seriously, both in teaching and working with our students and in our relationships with the debate communities we are part of. 

Thousands of students around the country debate the same topic each school year, for the entire school year, allowing unparalleled opportunities to develop expertise in the core issues surrounding that topic. Topics are chosen through a year-round, nation-wide process, with each state having a vote along with several national debate associations. As the largest policy debate presence in Washington, DC and Maryland, WUDL votes twice. 

Every August, representatives from debate leagues, associations, and schools gather for a national conference to review 10-15 proposed topic papers and begin the voting process to narrow the field down to five papers that go out for a nation-wide vote. The top two papers then go out for a second vote to decide the debate topic for the following year. 

WUDL is an active participant in this process, participating virtually during COVID and in-person four times. WUDL staff have written multiple topic papers. Uniquely, WUDL staff co-author papers with our debaters. Over the last three years, WUDL is the only debate organization that has done this. The last two years, Daniella Choi from BASIS DC has joined McAlister Clabaugh in representing WUDL and presenting topic papers. Daniella was the only current student debater to participate in the conference the last two years. 

The Urban Debate League network consistently has a solid presence at the topic conferences, with representatives this year from the Atlanta, Boston, Denver, and Silicon Valley UDLs along with NAUDL’s Sara Sanchez. 

The topic conference is a unique concentration of debate knowledge and experience, with 50+ people deeply committed to the activity coming together to review, challenge, and dissect the topic papers in an effort find both a core subject worthy of a year of debate and a specific resolution that will provide a reasonable set of options for all sides of the debate. 

Topic papers tend to be from 40-100 pages long, reflecting months-long research and writing efforts that summarize the core issue and explain its relevance and debatability. At the conference, the skills we try to teach our debaters are turned towards these papers, in a challenging yet collegial environment. 

The topic alternates between having a domestic or international focus. 2027-28 will be an international topic. There were 13 papers up for discussion, covering Latin America, US Overseas Military Presence, North Africa, Foreign Aid, Space Exploration, China, West Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, Western Balkans, Nuclear Arms Control, Presidential War Powers, and South Asia. 

WUDL Executive Director David Trigaux, BASIS DC student Sitara Mazumdar, and WUDL volunteer Jay Yoon wrote the Foreign Aid paper. WUDL staff member McAlister Clabaugh, BASIS DC student Daniella Choi, and School Without Walls student Marie-Celeste Pessey wrote the North Africa paper. 

Each paper goes through multiple rounds of questioning and discussion, followed by several rounds of voting to get to the final five papers. For paper authors, the voting process is akin to waiting for a decision from a judge after a debate round, letting you know if your paper has advanced or been eliminated. 

For the first time this year, WUDL has a paper in the final five that are headed to a nation-wide vote later this fall, with the North Africa paper joining Latin America, Military Presence, China, and Nuclear Arms Control on the ballot. 

 “It was good to represent the UDL perspective in a space where issues of Novice Interest and accessibility are only acknowledged in a shallow way,” Daniella said.