Joining the American University Debate Society provides opportunities for leadership, competition, community, and travel!
Leadership
The Debate Society is entirely student-run, and is led by an elected Executive Board whose members serve one-year terms. The Executive Board is assisted by several other officers, selected in November of each year, who coordinate many of the aspects of the annual “ProAm” tournament, building key experience with both logistics and leadership. These various opportunities to take leadership positions provide valuable material on resumes and also develop the ability to take an active role on campus. Debaters have also led other student organizations, including the American University Club Council, the administering body of all student clubs.
Competition
The Debate Society gives you the opportunity to travel across the country and compete each weekend. Members are able to test their grasp of current affairs, history, and a variety of other topics while also using logic to prove themselves against students from other universities. You’ll have the chance to compete against students from all of the Ivy League schools, as well as other prestigious institutions like Johns Hopkins, New York University, and Dartmouth. This experience will both improve your grasp on important issues and, if you succeed, boost your resume for internships and jobs in the future.
Community
The Debate Society is a tight-knit group, and becoming a member will make you some of the best friends that you’ll have in college. As an welcoming, friendly group, members go out of their way to include new students not just onto the team, but also into the fold. Members usually go out of their way to help each other outside of debate, whether it’s sharing knowledge about which classes to take, which professors to avoid, or which meals to avoid at TDR (meatloaf). Joining the Debate Society makes sure that you’ll have fun people to hang out with.
Travel
As mentioned earlier, the Debate Society lets you travel across the country and, sometimes, internationally. Our debate league (APDA) features member schools from California (Stanford) to Virginia (William and Mary) all the way north to Maine (Bates), and most host tournaments each year. You’ll have the opportunity to see Boston in the fall (Harvard, October 7th), New York in the winter (Fordham, November 18th), and Chicago in the spring (University of Chicago, March 30th). You can do all of this traveling at no personal cost; the only expense you’ll ever pay to the Debate Society is your $10 dues at the start of the year.
