Most weekends, �ֲ���ý classrooms resemble ghost towns, with desks and chairs askew and semi-erased chalkboards hinting at bygone activity.

One Saturday morning in mid-January, Room 300 in Pettigrew Hall was a different story. A whirl of activity descended upon the classroom as members of the college’s Brooks Quimby Debate Council led a workshop for students from Match High School, a public charter school in Boston.

In the Pettigrew Hall debate room on Jan. 16, �ֲ���ý debater Harry Meadows ’19 of Princeton Junction, N.J., leads the morning workshop session, teaching the Match High School students how to form arguments and other essentials of British parliamentary debate. (Grace Link ’19/�ֲ���ý College)

The 20 or so high school juniors, having sacrificed their Saturday morning sleep-ins, leaned forward in their desks and listened intently as the �ֲ���ý debaters explained the workings of British parliamentary debate, where topics are announced 15 minutes before the debate begins and where four teams participate, two supporting the proposition (Government) and two opposing (Opposition).

To start off, the group discussed how to formulate an argument on the topic projected on the screen at the front of the room: “Motion: This house as the city of Gotham would arrest Batman.”

“Let’s unpack this deeper,” said Jacob Nishimura ’21 of Mill Valley, Calif., to a small group of students. “What about Batman makes the police not want to do their job?” The high schoolers around him pondered the logic of the question, offering their opinions on the superhero and his impact on city security.

Having learned the ins and outs of British parliamentary debate, Match High School student Kayla Pages delivers opening remarks in a practice debate as �ֲ���ý and Match students await their turns. (Grace Link ’19/�ֲ���ý College)

What a way to encounter a college: Instead of walking around the campus on a traditional tour, the high schoolers spent the day immersed in one of �ֲ���ý’ most esteemed extracurriculars, the club that defined the college experience of their teacher, Andrew Jarboe ’05.

“My students are high-achieving juniors,” said . “Many of them will be first-generation college students. They have the stuff to succeed at a college like �ֲ���ý. Saturday was, for many of them, their first exposure to a top liberal arts college.”

Match High School history teacher Andrew Jarboe ’05 takes notes during the debate workshop. (Grace Link ’19/�ֲ���ý College)

All through the morning session, Jarboe walked in and out of the classroom, taking care to check on his students while also giving them the space to debate outside of his direct supervision.

Periodically, he glanced at the trophies and plaques that decorated the classroom — which doubles as the debate team’s practice room — a complement to the impressive trophy case lining the first-floor entrance to Pettigrew.

That case, said Jarboe, originally drew him to �ֲ���ý.

“It tells a story of this program that has a rich history,” he said. “That did it for me.”

In a Pettigrew hallway, Dylan Gyauch-Lewis ’21 (left) of Nashville, Tenn., and his Match debate partner, James McCauley, prep arguments for the first round of their practice debate. (Grace Link ’19/�ֲ���ý College)

Jarboe debated all four years at �ֲ���ý, often traveling across the country to attend tournaments in lieu of relaxing on weekends. Waving toward the debate room, he added, “That’s where I devoted all my energy.”

A Phi Beta Kappa history major at �ֲ���ý, Jarboe got his teaching start with Teach for America, later earning a doctorate in history from Northeastern University. In addition to his Match teaching position, Jarboe holds a faculty appointment at the Berklee College of Music.

His passion for �ֲ���ý debate hasn’t waned since he graduated. He’s held similar workshops at �ֲ���ý previously, but this was the first time he introduced students old enough to have college on their minds to �ֲ���ý.

�ֲ���ý debater Maya Benziger ’22 of Aurora, Ill., gives a speech during the practice debates. (Grace Link ’19/�ֲ���ý College)

A few days before their trip to �ֲ���ý, Jarboe told his students that instead of just walking around campus, they were going to learn how to debate with college students. “They had a mini freak-out,” he says.

Freak-out aside, the high schoolers picked up debate skills quickly, working one-on-one with �ֲ���ýies who were complete strangers to them just hours before. One young woman mentioned how much she liked being able to actually interact with college students. The feeling was mutual.

Christina Wang ’22 of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., and her Match partner, Muhammad Hasaba, prepare for their debate outside the Pettigrew Hall debate room. Having just heard the motion, they have only 15 minutes to prepare their arguments. (Grace Link ’19/�ֲ���ý College)

“The kids are super engaged,” said Harry Meadows ’19 of Princeton Junction, N.J., who led the morning workshop. “They’re picking it up really fast.”

As director of novice affairs for Quimby, he’s experienced at teaching first-years the ropes, but this was his first time working with high schoolers. Meadows was tasked with teaching the Match students how to develop their arguments in the morning, using the Batman resolution as an example.

Following that exercise, Meadows, assisted by his fellow team members, covered the basics of points of information, which allow opposing team members to interrupt the speaker with a question.

Match student Priscilla Sopitan (standing) and �ֲ���ý debater Trisha Kibugi ’21 of Nairobi, Kenya, prepare arguments for their practice debate. (Grace Link ’19/�ֲ���ý College)

These instructions came in handy after a noon break complete with stacks of pizza. In the afternoon, the Match students, partnered with �ֲ���ý debaters, participated in their own mock debates where they had to argue for or against editing fetal DNA.

“The quality of debating they did was wonderful,” said Katie Ziegler ’19 of Katonah, N.Y., the Quimby vice president and coordinator of the workshop’s logistics. “When you first learn how to debate, it’s completely overwhelming. The Match students really rose to the challenge and gave great speeches.”

So why the workshop? Jarboe explained that not only was it a great way for the students to get a feel for a small liberal arts college, but that it’s also the first step in a plan he has to establish a debate team back home at Match — and eventually a league for Boston-area charter schools.

In a Pettigrew classroom, partners J’von Ortiz-Cedeno ’22 (right) of Portland, Texas, and  Match student Maya Granberry Hall prep together before their practice debate. (Grace Link ’19/�ֲ���ý College)

Jarboe hopes that his students will be inspired by their experience at �ֲ���ý and bring some of their newfound skills in argumentation back home. “Debate itself is such a wonderful preparation for so many things in life,” he said after his students regrouped that afternoon.

As one student said after having successfully given her speech, “Debate skills really help you see from both views.”

For �ֲ���ý College, 2016–17 was a year of never-befores and how-about-thats, with a few way-to-goes along the way.

Here are the highlights:

�ֲ���ý Campaign launch energized by announcement of Bonneys’ $50 million gift

Believed to be the largest single monetary donation ever to a Maine college, the $50 million gift from Michael ’80 and Alison Grott Bonney ’80, announced on May 16 with the launch of the �ֲ���ý Campaign, will fund new and modernized science facilities at �ֲ���ý.

“We have never been more optimistic about the future of �ֲ���ý,” said Michael.

Kicked off with events in Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and on campus, The �ֲ���ý Campaign has a goal of $300 million, making it the largest fundraising effort in college history.

President Clayton Spencer reveals the $300 million goal of The �ֲ���ý Campaign during the Boston launch event on May 16. “We have gotten pretty far on high intention, good ideas, and great design. But I think we could get even farther if we combine those good ideas and great design with strong resources.” (Jared Charney Photography for �ֲ���ý College)

Women win second NCAA rowing championship

The team championship, �ֲ���ý rowing’s second in three years, came thanks to gutsy performances by both �ֲ���ý boats at the NCAA regatta, held May 26–27 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

“It was really the epitome of what I love about this sport,” said Julia Mason ’17 of Niskayuna, N.Y.

�ֲ���ý seniors Julia Mason of Niskayuna, N.Y., Molly Pritz of Ithaca, N.Y., Katherine Traquina of Wayland, Mass., Abigail Bierman of Bethlehem, N.Y., and Jessica Vocaturo of Columbus, N.J., celebrate the college’s second team national championship. (Aaron Morse/�ֲ���ý College)

Record Fulbright awards to �ֲ���ý seniors and young alums

Through late June, the Fulbright U.S. Student program has offered grants to 22 seniors and young alumni for 2017–18 — the college’s highest number of offers ever.

“The Fulbright mission is about young scholars taking the initiative for intercultural exchange in our global society,” says Robert Strong, who guides �ֲ���ý students in applying for Fulbrights.

“The �ֲ���ý experience, set in the international community of Lewiston, is an ideal incubator for such leaders.”

One of 22 seniors and young alumni to receive Fulbright offers for 2017–18, Deshun Peoples ’17 of Chicago, a double major in studio art and rhetoric, received a Fulbright Open Study/Research Award for a project in China. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

�ֲ���ý finished 20th in the 2016–17 Learfield Directors’ Cup, an annual ranking of the country’s most successful varsity sports programs based on their team performances at NCAA championships.

�ֲ���ý ranked 20th out of 325 institutions that scored points in 2016–17. In all, there are 451 NCAA Division III member schools.

The following �ֲ���ý teams earned Directors’ Cup points: women’s rowing (NCAA champs), men’s lacrosse (5th-place tie), women’s outdoor track and field (11th), women’s indoor track and field (11th tie), women’s swimming (13th), alpine and Nordic skiing (17th), women’s cross country (19th), men’s swimming (24th), and men’s indoor track and field (42nd).

Head coach Peter Lasagna and the men’s lacrosse team celebrate after defeating Middlebury at Garcelon Field in April. �ֲ���ý (16-2) advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in 2017. (Brewster Burns for �ֲ���ý College)

Major U.S. higher education access initiative selects �ֲ���ý for membership

In December 2016, the American Talent Initiative selected �ֲ���ý on the basis of the college’s commitment to access, affordability, and post-graduation success.

“We are proud to join the American Talent Initiative and look forward to offering our energy, experience, and creativity to the campaign,” said President Spencer.

“Education remains the great equalizer in our society.”

Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the initiative seeks, over the next nine years, to expand by 50,000 the number of low- and moderate-income students attending 270 top U.S. schools.

“At a time when we’re too often reminded of issues that divide us, education remains the great equalizer in our society,” said Spencer.

Members of the Class of 2020 get acquainted during an academic-planning session in August 2016 as part of Bobcat First!, the college’s program for first-generation-to-college students. The college’s record of supporting student success garnered an invitation to the American Talent Initiative. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Debaters advance to the globe’s upper echelons

In March, the team of Abby Westberry ’19 of Readfield, Maine, and Tessa Holtzman ’17 of Las Cruces, N.M., won the North American Women’s Debating Championship.

And in January, the team of Zoë Seaman-Grant ’17 of Charleston, S.C., and Matt Davis ’18 of Chicago made �ֲ���ý’ first-ever final-four appearance at the World Universities Debating Championships, held in The Hague, Netherlands.

The performances have once again “solidified �ֲ���ý as an elite program,” said Director of Debate Jan Hovden.

Debate partners Zoë Seaman-Grant ’17 and Matt Davis ’18 made it to the finals of the 2017 World Universities Debating Championships in The Hague, Netherlands. (Photograph courtesy Brooks Quimby Debate Council)

Economist Michael Murray wins 2017 Kroepsch Award for Excellence in Teaching

Murray received the college’s signature teaching award for, among other things, “making econometrics click for [students] in a way that other people don’t,” said his colleague James Hughes.

Students don’t just rave about Murray’s ability to communicate econometrics. They say he even makes it fun. “He made complex concepts enjoyable and interesting to learn,” said Sarah Centanni ’17 of Hingham, Mass.

Economics professor Michael Murray works with econometrics students during the final week of classes in April. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Ali Rabideau’s social-enterprise pitch wins top prize in $15,000 competition

The �ֲ���ý senior’s winning pitch in the student-run Bobcat Ventures competition on April 1, 2016, grew from her summer job helping a Lewiston nonprofit, the Center for Wisdom’s Women, make some money by growing and selling products made from medicinal herbs and flowers.

Rabideau said that being able to knit together two strong strands of the �ֲ���ý experience — entrepreneurism and social awareness — “was my favorite part of the experience: Having the kind of work you value brought to life by an entrepreneurship competition.”

Bobcat Ventures judge Chris Barbin ’93 presents first-place winner Ali Rabideau ’17 with a first-place check of $9,000 on April 1, 2017. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Campus weathers historic five-snowstorm week

February 2017 delivered a one-two-three-four-five punch of snowstorms totaling around 47 inches, which is more than double the height of your average bobcat.

Midway through the February blitz, with the temperature at about 13 degrees and the wind gusting to 25 mph, we caught up with Kinsey Moser ’18 of Florida, at left, who was walking with Emma Foss ’19 and Adam Poulin ’19 of Maine and Jade Donaldson ’18 of New Jersey.

�ֲ���ý takes national lead in sustainability with switch to Renewable Fuel Oil

�ֲ���ý is cutting emissions and saving money as the first U.S. college to heat with an innovative fuel oil made from wood scraps and other cellulosic biomass products.

�ֲ���ý sustainability manager Tom Twist estimates that burning RFO will cut the steam plant’s annual emission of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) from about 3,080 metric tons to 532.

“It’s a huge drop, which is pretty cool,” said Twist.

Tanks a lot: With a Cote crane poised for action, a rigger unfastens the Renewable Fuel Oil tank from its trailer on Dec. 9, 2016. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Attempt to suppress �ֲ���ý student vote gets swift college response

Denounced with vigor by President Clayton Spencer, the dastardly attempt to discourage �ֲ���ý students from participating in the 2016 national election on Nov. 8 captured national attention.

Two days before the election, orange fliers posted in Commons and residences by an unknown person implied that voting in Maine meant that a student must get a Maine driver’s license and, if they owned a car, register it with the state. Neither are requirements for students to vote in Maine.

In her statement to the community, President Spencer denounced the fliers as “clearly a deliberate attempt at voter suppression.”

Orange fliers with false voting information posted on campus on Nov. 6 were a deliberate attempt to discourage students from voting, said President Spencer. (Photograph by Sarah Frankie Sigman ’18)

Marcy Plavin, a singular force for dance and dancers at �ֲ���ý, dies at age 84

Plavin, who died Nov.  3, 2016, was the face and spirit of �ֲ���ý dance and, for her students, “a spirited defender and nurturer of their aspirations and dreams,” said President Spencer.

Dance critic and historian Suzanne Carbonneau ’76 said that Plavin provided an ��Գٰ�é�� “to the world of artistic creation” for her students. “We learned that passionate engagement, an appreciation of the sublime, and the cultivation of compassion are forms of knowledge that none of us can afford to be without.”

Rachel Segall ’91 and Michael Foley ’89 embrace Marcy Plavin on May 2, 2015, during rehearsals for the evening’s alumni dance concert to honor Plavin. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

$10 million gift from Elizabeth Kalperis Chu ’80 and Michael Chu ’80 names new residences

Dedicated on Oct. 2, 2016, in honor of the Chus’ gift, Kalperis Hall and Chu Hall, located at 65 and 55 Campus Ave. respectively, provide housing for 243 students. In addition, Kalperis Hall features street-level space for the relocated and reimagined �ֲ���ý College Store and Post & Print office.

The new buildings establish a new, dynamic area of college life on the south side of campus while offering a more defined and welcoming gateway to �ֲ���ý.

Elizabeth Kalperis Chu ’80 and Michael Chu ’80 pose outside Kalperis Hall on Oct. 28, 2016. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

The project is part of the college’s strategic efforts to improve residential offerings on a broad scale while maintaining campus enrollment at approximately 1,750 students.

�ֲ���ý dedicates new rowing boathouse, ‘a place to call home’

The �ֲ���ý rowing program had a housewarming on Oct. 29, 2016, formally dedicating its new donor-funded boathouse on the Androscoggin River in Greene.

The new facility has what the old boathouse, a rustic unheated pole barn, did not have: locker rooms, workout space, and secure storage for boats.

Still, some things won’t change. “We take pride in being the tough, gritty team from Maine,” said captain Abbey Bierman ’17 of Bethlehem, N.Y. “And this boathouse will not change that.”

The college’s new donor-funded boathouse was designed by Peterson Architects, based in Cambridge, Mass. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Museum of Art’s ‘Phantom Punch’ exhibition is among first in U.S. to present contemporary Saudi artists

You didn’t see it coming: A groundbreaking exhibition of contemporary Saudi Arabian art at the �ֲ���ý College Museum of Art last fall and winter.

“We want to show that there are creative, interesting, critical people who are exploring the political and cultural issues in their society,” said co-curator Loring Danforth, Dana Professor of Anthropology.

“Tagged and Documented” (2013) by Hudu Bedoun appears in Phantom Punch.

Journalist and Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King speaks at �ֲ���ý

Punctuating his remarks with penetrating detail, Shaun King, senior social justice writer for the New York Daily News and a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, spoke to a capacity audience in the Gomes Chapel on Oct. 11, 2016.

“Sometimes human beings are amazing, and sometimes they’re really terrible,” King said. “Sometimes the quality of humanity goes up, and sometimes it goes really far down.”

Black Lives Matter activist and New York Daily News justice writer Shaun King delivers remarks in the Gomes Chapel on Oct. 11, 2016. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ���ý College)

Chemist Tom Wenzel shares $900,000 grant for curriculum development

The grant will support work by Dana Professor of Chemistry Tom Wenzel and a collaborator to advance active learning, where students take a hands-on approach to solving problems that have their roots in real-world situations.

“This is a way to help faculty meaningfully change the way they teach,” Wenzel said. “To move away from lectures to doing in-class group work, and away from ‘recipe-driven’ laboratories to more open-ended experiments.”

Charles A. Dana Professor of Chemistry Tom Wenzel. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Robert Flynn, a three-sport coach with ‘iconic Bobcat zen’ who elevated �ֲ���ý skiing to national prominence, dies at age 83

Bob Flynn’s warmth and loyalty to his athletes embodied “the force, the spirit, and the iconic Bobcat zen” of �ֲ���ý athletics.

At his induction into the �ֲ���ý Scholar-Athlete Society in 2015, Flynn was honored for his many years of “encouraging �ֲ���ý athletes to participate in all �ֲ���ý had to offer. Most of all, he has assisted �ֲ���ý students in challenging themselves.”

Whatever the sport, “it just didn’t matter to him who you were. He was nice — period,” said Dave Irons, a longtime friend and Maine ski industry journalist.

Bob Flynn, photographed in September 2012 while coaching the �ֲ���ý golf team. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Zoë Seaman-Grant ’17 of Charleston, S.C., one of the most accomplished debaters in the illustrious history of �ֲ���ý debate, explains what she loves about the mind-challenging pursuit: “listening to intelligent people say things about topics that you might never have thought about before — and they’re your peers.”

The �ֲ���ý debate team of Abby Westberry ’19 of Readfield, Maine, and Tessa Holtzman ’17 of Las Cruces, N.M., won the North American Women’s Debating Championships, hosted by the University of British Columbia in Vancouver on March 18–19.

In fact, the tourney’s final round was chock full of Bobcats, with the �ֲ���ý team of Katie Ziegler ’19 of Katonah, N.Y., and Sam Malone ’19 of Sacramento, Calif., also advancing to the four-team finals of the British parliamentary style debate.

The team of Abby Westberry ’19 (second from right) and Tessa Holtzman ’17 (right) won the North American Women’s Debating Championships, and were joined in the final round by the team of Katie Ziegler ’19 (left) and Sam Malone ’19 (second from left).

Forty teams from some of the top North American debate programs competed, including squads from Harvard, Cornell, Loyola Marymount, Seattle University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Vermont.

Joining �ֲ���ý in the final was a combined team from the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia and a team from the University of Alberta. The final-round motion was, “This House believes that feminism is incompatible with capitalism.”

The NAWDC is more than a : It seeks to even the playing field for “women and non-male identifying individuals” who “have been systemically underrepresented in debate, which is seen as part of the male domain.”

Like many real biases, gender bias in debate can be hard to quantify yet still palpable, say �ֲ���ý debaters.

“At tournaments, our debaters compete against and are judged by students from other schools,” explains Westberry. “Within the stressful environment of a debate room, biases manifest themselves in many ways.”

For example, she says, “it is immensely frustrating as a woman when you exit a round knowing that you gave an excellent speech, only to have a judge value it as lesser. This can be incredibly disheartening for female debaters.”

Which is why, Holtzman adds, “we must continue to fight for the inclusion of all voices on the circuit.”

The ever-growing collection of �ֲ���ý debating trophies resides in Pettigrew Hall. (Ryan Donnell for �ֲ���ý College)

The college’s own debate tradition, carried forward by the venerable Brooks Quimby Debate Council, is less fraught with gender issues than the NAWDC’s premise might suggest. Holtzman is president (though, as she points out, she’s the first female president since 2000) and Westberry is vice president.

The college’s director of debate is Lecturer in Rhetoric Jan Hovden. Surveying the debate landscape, she says that BQDC has “significantly more women participating on our team than most debate societies do and we work hard to create a team environment in which all members feel welcome and supported.”

She adds, “The significant success that the women on our team have achieved illustrates that debate doesn’t have to be an overtly masculine space.”

Holtzman says that “we are always trying to reach out to other underrepresented groups. Other schools also do this, as we all have an interest in fostering an environment where everyone feels like they can speak and be heard.”

In January, �ֲ���ý sent four women and four men to the 2017 World Universities Debate Championships, in which the �ֲ���ý team of Zoë Seaman-Grant ’17 and Matt Davis ’18 advanced to the finals. Holtzman, Westberry, and Zeigler also competed at WUDC, as did Cole Limbach ’18 of Los Altos, Calif., Bennett Saltzman ’18 of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and Dylan Desjardins ’18 of Arlington, Mass.

“Sending this many women debaters to such a prestigious tournament is certainly notable and says a lot about the work �ֲ���ý puts in to ensure that its female debaters feel supported and empowered,” Holtzman says.

You hear it whenever world-class teammates — think Cousy and Russell, Brady and Edelman, even Babilonia and Gardner — talk about their success. Invariably, they’ll say it’s all about trust and respect.

That’s exactly how �ֲ���ý’ latest world-class debate team, of Zoë Seaman-Grant ’17 and Matt Davis ’18, talk about a history-making performance that landed them in the final four of the World Universities Debating Championships in The Hague, Netherlands.

“We have enormous respect for each other intellectually. We trust the other person’s ideas,” says Davis, a philosophy major from Chicago. “And we’re very good friends.”

That friendship, says Seaman-Grant, a women and gender studies major from Charleston, S.C., “allows us to put so much faith and trust in each other during debates.”

Debate partners Zoë Seaman-Grant ’17 and Matt Davis ’18 made it to the finals of the 2017 World Universities Debating Championships in The Hague, Netherlands.

Trust and respect, and of course profound intellectual chops and a dizzying knowledge of world affairs, fueled the pair’s run to the finals of the WUDC, which attracted teams from 379 institutions to The Hague Dec. 28 through Jan. 3.

“I’m so proud of Zoë and Matt,” said President Clayton Spencer. “They and their teammates are doing an amazing job, continuing �ֲ���ý’ stellar tradition of success in international debate.”

About a century after �ֲ���ý made history by becoming the first U.S. college to debate internationally, �ֲ���ý is again is looming large in international debate competition.

Joining �ֲ���ý in the finals, held Tuesday, were teams from Oxford University, Yale University, and the University of Sydney, judged the winner. (Among North American colleges not making the finals: Harvard, Duke, Brown, Stanford, Princeton, Cornell, McGill, Clemson, Swarthmore, Berkeley, University of Chicago, Brandeis, and Johns Hopkins.)

The �ֲ���ý team debated in nine preliminary rounds and five single-elimination rounds. In terms of individual rankings, published after the preliminary rounds, Seaman-Grant was 31st of 756 speakers and Davis 37th.

Zoë Seaman-Grant ’17 is at the lectern, while teammate Matt Davis ’18 takes notes, right, during the final round of the 2017 World Universities Debating Championships in The Hague, Netherlands. (Manuel J. Adams / Dutch WUDC 2017)

They grappled with motions like:

• “This House believes that post-genocidal regimes should destroy all places of extermination (for example, death camps)”;
• “This House regrets the glamorization of start-up culture that encourages people to start their own companies rather than pursue traditional career paths”; and, in the final round,
• “This House would apply universal jurisdiction to crimes against the environment.”

Since motions are announced just 15 minutes before a round, debaters must walk in already knowing a lot about a lot.

“Together, we very rarely get a topic we don’t know anything about,” says Davis. “Zoë knows quite a lot about feminism, race, and economics, while I know a lot about international relations, philosophy, and art.”

Zoë Seaman-Grant ’17 presents the Opposition case during the final round of the 2017 WUDC in The Hague, Netherlands, where the motion was “This House would apply universal jurisdiction to crimes against the environment.” (Manuel J. Adams / Dutch WUDC 2017)

As their knowledge becomes ideas that become arguments, the pair’s two minds work as one.

“We trust the other person’s ideas and also respect when the other person says we have a bad idea,” explains Davis. “This also means that we rarely disagree about what sorts of arguments to make or strategies to take, which means that if we mess up it’s never one person’s fault alone.”

Seaman-Grant and Davis were joined at this year’s WUDC by Brooks Quimby Debate Council teammates Bennett Saltzman ’18 of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and Dylan Dejardins ’18 of Arlington, Mass.; Tessa Holtzman ’17 of Las Cruces, N.M., and Cole Limbach ’18 of Los Altos, Calif.; and Abby Westberry ’19 of Readfield, Maine, and Katie Ziegler ’19 of Katonah, N.Y.

About a century after �ֲ���ý made history by becoming the first U.S. college to debate internationally, the college again is looming large in international debate competition.

And complementing trust and respect, says Director of Debate Jan Hovden, is “hard work and dedication. We have been working hard to improve our standing on the global level. Prior to 2013, �ֲ���ý had had one team reach the elimination rounds at Worlds. Since 2013, we have had six. Matt and Zoë raised the bar — they’ve solidified �ֲ���ý as an elite program.”

Matt Davis ’18 presents the Opposition case during the final round of the 2017 WUDC in The Hague, Netherlands, where the motion was “This House would apply universal jurisdiction to crimes against the environment.” (Dutch (Manuel J. Adams / Dutch WUDC 2017)

In 2013, Catherine Djang ’13 and Ben Smith ’13 became the first team in 14 years to advance to the 48-team elimination rounds at the WUDC.

Then, in 2015, Taylor Blackburn ’15 and Matt Summers ’15 reached the octofinal round, aka Round of 32. Blackburn, in fact, was on hand in the Netherlands to witness �ֲ���ý’ latest history-making performance, attending the WUDC as a judge.

“She and I had a very emotional moment” after �ֲ���ý won its octofinal debate, said Seaman-Grant. “It was so wonderful to have her there, seeing �ֲ���ý do even better than before.”

For Seaman-Grant, the other highlight was in the sixth of nine preliminary rounds when the topic was in her bailiwick: “This House believes that the world would be a better place if women from privileged backgrounds turned down any benefits arising from affirmative action programs.”

“Do debate because you love the activity, rather than because you love the feeling of winning.”

“We debated against teams from Oxford, Harvard, and Stanford,” she says. “All those teams are incredibly talented, and Matt and I managed to win. It was the first moment at worlds where I felt like we actually had a chance of performing well at the tournament.”

Here’s another quality that makes a great competitor: passion for what they do.

“Even when Matt and I aren’t winning, we have an incredibly fun time just talking to each other about ideas and watching each other give speeches,” Seaman-Grant says.

“I think the best way to do well in debate is probably to do debate because you love the activity, rather than because you love the feeling of winning.”

The �ֲ���ý contingent poses for a photo during WUDC 2017, including Taylor Blackburn ’15 (back row, third from right) whose team advanced to the octofinal round in 2015. (Photograph courtesy of Tessa Holtzman ’17)

The World Universities Debating Championships use the British parliamentary format. Topics are announced 15 minutes before the debate begins and the rounds are contested by four teams: two supporting the proposition (Government) and two opposing (Opposition).

The British model differs from American-style parliamentary debate by having two teams on each side of the motion. (Think of a tennis doubles match with two teams on each side of the net.)

It’s faster-paced and more strategy-focused, and — hardly surprising since it’s the preferred format in international debating — �ֲ���ý has increasingly focused on British-style debating in recent years.

Besides the achievement of a �ֲ���ý team advancing further than ever, the World Universities Debating Championship last month also solidified the reputation of Taylor Blackburn ’15 as arguably the best female debater in North America.

“An unprecedented level of success.”

“The level of progress that �ֲ���ý has made in international competition over the past few years is simply astounding,” said Jan Hovden, lecturer in rhetoric and director of debate. “The debaters have put in countless hours of work to achieve an unprecedented level of success.”

�ֲ���ý sent three two-person teams to Malaysia for the British parliamentary-style debate tournament, held from Dec. 27 to Jan. 4 at the Universiti Teknologi MARA.

At the World Universities Debating Championship in Malaysia, the team of Taylor Blackburn ’15 (left) and Matt Summers ’15 finished 30th out of 371 teams. Blackburn was the highest ranked female debater from a North American college. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Here are the three �ֲ���ý teams and how they finished:

�ֲ���ý A: Matt Summers ’15 of Short Hills, N.J., and Blackburn, of Sonoma, Calif., finished in a tie for 30th out of 371 teams.

�ֲ���ý B: Zoe Seaman-Grant ’17 of Charleston, S.C., and Benjamin Claeson ’15 of Bangor, Maine, finished 37th out of 371 teams.

�ֲ���ý C: Alex Daugherty ’15 of York, Pa., and Matthew Kahn ’16 of Newington, Conn., finished 101st of 371 teams.

At Worlds, the format has four teams arguing the motion in each debate, two on the Government side and two on the Opposition. (While two teams might be on the same “side” of the motion, they don’t work together during the debate.)

The tournament begins with each team taking part in nine preliminary debates, trying to earn enough points from judges to be one of the 48 top point-earners that “break” into the elimination rounds. (It’s a big deal to break.)

This year, both �ֲ���ý A and �ֲ���ý B broke into the elimination rounds. It’s only the second time ever that two �ֲ���ý teams accomplished the feat, 2014 being the first.

After breaking, the Blackburn-Summers team won its initial elimination round debate, defeating teams from Harvard and Columbia — the first time that a �ֲ���ý team has won an elimination-round debate.

Of the tournament’s 742 speakers, Blackburn emerged as the top-ranked female speaker of all North American debaters, and Seaman-Grant was third-ranked. Overall, they were ranked 41st and 82nd, respectively.

As usual, the debate motions tested the debaters’ awareness of many hot-button world issues. A few:

• This house regrets the decline of tightly integrated families.
• This house believes that environmental movements should support climate engineering that fundamentally alters the environment in an attempt to combat global warming.
• This house believes that in areas of socio-economic deprivation, schools should train students in vocational skills to the exclusion of the liberal arts.
• This house would prohibit the media from reporting on the mental illness of those accused of crimes.
• This house believes that the international community should cut off Internet access in Syria.
• This house believes that disadvantaged groups should emphasize their conformity with, rather than distinctiveness from, dominant culture, as a strategy for improving their social position.

It is a mind-expanding experience to look at the roster of institutions at Worlds. This year, �ֲ���ý participated in debates with teams from schools including:

Morehouse, Yale, Harvard, the Air Force Academy, the University of Otago (New Zealand), the University of Queensland (Australia), Midlands State University (Zimbabwe), Universiti Putra (Malaysia), the University of Alaska, the Trinity College Dublin Philosophical Society (Ireland), Keio University (Japan) and Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Looking ahead, �ֲ���ý hosts an tournament on Feb. 27–28, with debates taking place in various classrooms in Pettengill Hall. As host, �ֲ���ý’ world-class debaters won’t be participating — but still a fine time to see top-flight parliamentary debaters in action.

Taking the concept of “away game” to the extreme, �ֲ���ý’ legendary Brooks Quimby Debate Council will send three teams to Malaysia in January to compete at the .

And the chance to head halfway around the world is a suitable capstone on a fall season that had �ֲ���ý debate aficionados over the moon.

The team of Taylor Blackburn ’15 and Matt Summers ’15 is among the most prominent U.S. teams heading to Malaysia in January for the World Universities Debating Championships. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

�ֲ���ý competes on two parliamentary debate circuits, the British (or World) circuit and the American one, each slightly different in rules and format.

On the American circuit, �ֲ���ý finished the fall as the just ahead of Princeton, in standings maintained by the American Parliamentary Debate Association. The team of Matthew Summers ’15 of Short Hills, N.J., and Zoe Seaman-Grant ’17 of Charleston, S.C., .

On the World stage, the team of Summers and Taylor Blackburn ’15 of Atherton, Calif., “will be among the most prominent U.S. team to compete in Malaysia in January,” says Logan Pettinato ’16 of Massapequa, N.Y., Brooks Quimby vice president.

Traveling to England for the and debates on back-to-back weekends in November, Summers and Blackburn advanced to the elimination rounds at both tourneys, the first �ֲ���ý team to ever accomplish the feat.

From left, �ֲ���ý debaters at Oxford University: Colin Etnire ’12 (a chief adjudicator for the tournament), Tessa Holtzman ’17 of Las Cruces, N.M., Matthew Summers ’15 of Short Hills, N.J., Taylor Blackburn ’15 of Atherton, Calif., Amit Dubey ’15 of Flushing, N.Y., Dmitriy Redkin ’15 of Pittsburgh and Noah Levick ’17 of Narbeth, Pa.

Joining Blackburn and Summers in Malaysia will be the teams of Seaman-Grant and Ben Claeson ’15, and Alex Daugherty ’15 of York, Pa. and Matt Kahn ’16 of Newington, Conn.

“Huge accomplishment for the BQDC”

Another big �ֲ���ý presence at the Oxford tournament was alumnus Colin Etnire ’12, a member of the five-person adjudication team that develops motions and oversees judging.

BQDC publicity director Amit Dubey ’15 of Flushing, N.Y., calls Etnire’s role at Oxford a “huge accomplishment for the BQDC. No �ֲ���ý alum has ever been a chief adjudicator for such a massive tournament.” Last year, while debating for his graduate school, Loyola Marymount, Etnire won the Grand Final at Oxford.

Meanwhile, back home on the American circuit, Summers and Seaman-Grant displaced Harvard to win the in September. The second-largest U.S. tournament, the Columbia event has been dominated by Harvard teams for several years.

At the in early November, �ֲ���ý novices Cole Limbach ’18 of Los Altos, Calif., and Olga Revzina ’18 of Bethesda, Md., took first, while Daniel Brause ’18 of Williamsburg, Va., and Jay Bennett-Saltzman ’18 of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., took third.

Ten debaters made it to the elimination rounds at Wesleyan, a BQDC club record.

And great �ֲ���ý debaters keep on coming, as Quang Nguyen ’17 of Hanoi, Vietnam, and Imad Rajwani ’18 of Karachi, Pakistan, had a solid tournament at the in mid-November.

“They both have learned parliamentary debate while at �ֲ���ý,” notes Dubey. “Their achievement at this event signals great promise for the future growth and development of our team.”

The dynamic duo of Taylor Blackburn ’15 and Jac Stewart ’14 ended a strong �ֲ���ý debate season with the squad’s first-ever national team title, winning the U.S. Universities Debating Championship on April 13 at Purdue University.

Jac Stewart (left) and Taylor Blackburn brandish their trophy after winning the U.S. Universities Debating Championship. (Photograph courtesy of BQDC)

In the final round, Blackburn and Stewart went up against teams from Yale, Cornell and Loyola Marymount.

The resolution, timely in the context of world events, was “This House regrets the continuation of NATO after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.”

In the , the victory is believed to be the first national title by a �ֲ���ý varsity team, says Director of Debate Jan Hovden.

“Jac and Taylor put forth a tremendous effort to win the national title,” Hovden adds. “Their performance was stunning.”

Blackburn and Stewart, who hail from Atherton, Calif., and Keene, N.H., respectively, weren’t the only members of the Brooks Quimby Debate Council who made the garnet glow at Purdue.

In fact, all four �ֲ���ý teams that entered the championship tournament advanced to the quarterfinals.

The squad’s “overall level of competitive success” at the UDC tourney might be just as big a story as Stewart and Blackburn’s win, Hovden says.

Matt Summers ’15 of Short Hills, N.J., and Stephanie Wesson ’14 of Mont Vernon, N.H., made the semifinals, while the quarterfinal teams were Ben Claeson ’15 of Bangor, Maine, and Emily Schwalbe ’14 of Concord, N.C,  and sophomores Sasha Grodsky of Watertown, Mass., and Shannon Griffin of Philadelphia.

“It was a tremendous team effort to reach this level of success, and I couldn’t be prouder of the team,” Hovden says.

In winning the championship, Stewart and Blackburn topped some 300 other debaters from top-ranked U.S. programs.

“The BQDC demonstrated its extraordinary depth this past weekend,” said Stewart. “We are a close-knit team, so it was exhilarating to see friends and teammates succeed at USU.”

Not to mention alumni: Colin Etnire ’12, now in graduate school, was on the Loyola Marymount team in the finals; his team placed second.

Blackburn and Stewart’s victory in the British parliamentary style UDC tournament concludes a season that saw the pair rock the BP debate circuit.

(�ֲ���ý participates in both American and British parliamentary debates. In AP debates, a two-person team argues in support of the motion, and a two-person team opposes it. The British style doubles the fun, with two teams on each side of the motion. Besides the format difference, British debate can be faster-paced and more strategy-focused.)

Blackburn and Stewart won the Yale Inter-Varsity Debate Tournament last October and the Brandeis Inter-Varsity Debate Tournament two months later, vanquishing world-class rhetoricians from Yale, Harvard, Brown and McGill, among various institutions.

The �ֲ���ý contingent at the U.S. Universities Debating Championship included (from left) Director of Debate Jan Hovden and debaters Shannon Griffin, Sasha Grodsky, Taylor Blackburn, Jac Stewart, Stephanie Wesson, Matt Summers, Emily Schwalbe and Ben Claeson. (Photograph courtesy of BQDC)

“Debating with Taylor this year has been a pleasure and tremendous learning experience,” said Stewart. “I’m excited to see how she and the rest of our growing team fare next year.”

In January, the pair went on to the World Universities Debating Championships in Chennai, India, where they were ranked 21st in the world — where, too, Summers and Wesson finished at 39th.

And in March, Wesson and Claeson won the King’s College Inter-Varsity Debate Tournament in New York City.

�ֲ���ý’ success in BP debating was matched by equally formidable achievements on the American circuit, and Brooks Quimby ended 2013–14 ranked ninth in the

Summers and Blackburn finished the season as the fourth-ranked APDA team, posting top-five finishes at the largest, most competitive tourneys the nation, including tournaments at Harvard, Columbia, Brown and Boston University.

And the newbies are coming on strong.

Zoe Seaman-Grant ’17 tied as the fifth-place novice of the year in the U.S., while Matt Kahn ’17 finished as the eighth-ranked novice debater of the season. The team of Seaman-Grant and Kahn won the BU Novice Tournament last fall and placed in the top five at the Vassar, Brown and Brandeis tournaments.

“Only a few debate programs follow the �ֲ���ý model of accepting and training all interested students,” said Stewart. “It has been incredible to go from never having debated to learning to perform at the highest levels.

“�ֲ���ý’ no-cut policy is instrumental to our success.”

As debaters from �ֲ���ý and Morehouse colleges made clear on MLK Day, discussing Martin Luther King’s dream raises more questions than it answers.

Debater Shannon Griffin ’16, left, listens to an objection Monday during the Reverend Benjamin Elijah Mays Debate between �ֲ���ý and Morehouse colleges in the Olin Arts Center. (Sarah Crosby/�ֲ���ý College)

“King didn’t want to change people, he wanted a better society,” said Morehouse sophomore Rami Blair, who went on to quote King’s own words: “The law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me.”

Representing the opposition, Blair and Morehouse junior Curtis O’Neal argued against the day’s motion: “This house believes King’s Dream is unattainable.”

Yet the core of the Jan. 20 debate was not so much whether King’s dream was unattainable, but what the dream was to begin with. The teams sparred over the definition of the dream and what King meant when he wished that his children “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

The Morehouse debaters pointed out that King was, in Blair’s words, a “practical optimist,” not the radical idealist many perceive him to be. The dream was to create equality of opportunity under the law — not a color-blind utopia.

�ֲ���ý’ Brooks Quimby Debate Council team supported the motion, arguing that the oppression within U.S. education, economic and criminal justice systems makes true equality impossible.

Benjamin Elijah Mays ’20.

Represented by Stephanie Wesson ’14 of Mount Vernon, N.H., and Shannon Griffin ’16 of Philadelphia, the �ֲ���ý team maintained that the dream was an idealized vision of a U.S. in which race no longer matters.

The annual tradition of the Reverend Benjamin Elijah Mays Debate honors the man who is at the center of the historic friendship between �ֲ���ý and Morehouse.

Former captain of �ֲ���ý’ debate team, Mays ’20 became the president of Atlanta’s historically black Morehouse College in 1940. He was a national figure in the civil rights movement as a theorist and as spiritual adviser and friend to King, who graduated from Morehouse in 1948.

Jan Hovden, �ֲ���ý professor of rhetoric and director of debate, explained that the day’s motion was intentionally provocative in order to illustrate the power of “the spoken word above that of violent revolution.”

Professor Kenneth Newby, director of Morehouse’s forensics program, emphasized the importance of such cultural and intellectual exchange. “We consider �ֲ���ý College a true friend of Morehouse College.”

The debate was in keeping with themes presented by that morning’s keynote speaker Gary Younge. An award-winning journalist and author, Younge argued that King was far more complex and polarizing than history tends to remember.