乐播传媒

What was true 90 years ago, when The New York Timesproclaimed 乐播传媒 to be a “power centre of college debating,” is in evidence again now as the college’s Brooks Quimby Debate Council ranks among the best debate programs in the world.

Ranked 14th globally as of Feb. 29 by the the 乐播传媒 team recently has ranked as high as ninth.

乐播传媒’ strong world ranking, says Director of Debate Jan Hovden, “is a true honor for members of the Brooks Quimby Debate Council. 乐播传媒 is an undergraduate-only institution whose students regularly compete against graduate and law students from around the globe, so the ranking speaks volumes about the quality of students we have at 乐播传媒.”

According to the IDEA website, the world rankings draw “from the results of 33 high-profile tournaments across the world to show an accurate representation of the comparative strength of debating societies against each other.”

In rankings published by the American Parliamentary Debate Association, 乐播传媒 is ranked sixth the U.S., behind Yale, Brandeis, Harvard, American and Columbia universities.

乐播传媒 debates at home March 8-10, hosting a public debate vs. Yale at 7:30 p.m., March 8, in the Chapel, and an intercollegiate debate the following two days.

Pacing the Brooks Quimby Debate Council are seniors Colin Etnire of San Francisco and Ian Mahmud of Duxbury, Mass., rankedin the Team of the Year standings by the American Parliamentary Debate Association.

Etnire is ranked eighth in U.S. Speaker of the Year standings, while Taylor Blackburn ’15 of Atherton, Calif., is eighth in the Novice of the Year standings.

The Brooks Quimby Debate Council is distinctive in that the club trains and develops debaters who have had no prior experience. It does not hold competitive tryouts but is open to all interested students.