Mia Herz–

On Saturday, February 11th, the RCDS Debate Team participated in their first debate tournament in over three years, with two RCDS teams making it to the quarter and semi finals. 

The Debate Team is a school club run by juniors Isabel Tiburcio ‘24 and David Colin ‘24. After COVID hit in 2020, Debate Team almost became defunct, with only four members, no coach, and no direction. Tiburcio and Colin decided to rebuild the Debate Team from the ground up, hoping participation in tournaments would reinvigorate the club and create a bonding experience for debaters.

During the tournament, RCDS was one of five new schools to join the New York Parliamentary Debate League, a student run league that allows different schools to participate in tournaments without a coach. In parliamentary debate, there is no prior research as the topic is received twenty minutes before the debate. Debaters can only use their ability to recall information to build strong arguments.

With about 250 participants, the tournament took place virtually over Discord and Zoom and included attendees from New York to California. It lasted from 10:00 am to approximately 9:30 pm. RCDS sent a total of four two-person teams. Cole Denson ‘24 and AJ Pisacano ‘23 went to the quarterfinals while Colin and his teammate Sameer Hirani ‘24 made it to the semi finals, only defeated by the winning team. Topics were scattered and ranged from Valentine’s Day to consumerism. Tiburcio states that as a result of getting more comfortable with debate, “we could sense that our scores were getting higher and our confidence was boosted because of how the day was going.”

This tournament was an auspicious start for the Debate Team and Tiburcio wants the club to “not only provide a space for people interested in a debate, but provide a space that is sustainable [and] going to last.” She wants the club to have an impact on RCDS and “make the debate team prominent, and give it a solid existence on campus.”