14 Oxbridge Debaters Earn Spots at Debate Nationals!

As debate qualifiers season has drawn to a close, 14 Oxbridge Debaters have made it to Debate Nationals this year! Debate Nationals runs from late April until mid June, and the best of the best from around the country will compete against each other at the University of Kentucky, at Northwestern University in Chicago, in Washington DC, and in Fort Lauderdale. Congratulations to our Oxbridge Debaters who have made it!

Oxbridge Debaters Heading to Nationals:

Seniors: Nick Chen, Brian Reinhart, Harrison Koeppel, Alyson Brusie, and Robbie Linck

Juniors: Ellis Lee, Eli Reitman, and Walker Stewart

Sophomores: Daymon Cantave, Sean Jassenoff, and John Carlson

Freshmen: Mya Hunter, Michael Scellato, Carter Stewart

These 14 debaters claimed a combined 32 spots at the upcoming Debate Nationals tournaments.

Seniors Alyson Brusie and Robbie Linck, still currently ranked the number one public forum debate team in the nation, have made it to Debate Nationals 7 times over their high school debate career. Right now, they are currently preparing to debate at the University of Kentucky’s prestigious Tournament of Champions. At UK, Brusie and Linck, along with juniors Walker Stewart and Eli Reitman, will be debating whether or not the US federal government should increase the amount of highly skilled foreign workers that are allowed to enter the US as immigrants.

Joining them at TOC Nationals, and also competing at Northwestern University’s Extemp Tournament of Champions, are 7 of our team’s extemporaneous speakers: Nick Chen, Harrison Koeppel, Brian Reinhart, Mya Hunter, Ellis Lee, Daymon Cantave, and Sean Jassenoff. The Extemp Tournament of Champions has the esteemed reputation of having the most difficult questions and topics, and having the most highly qualified and demanding judges. At the first night of the tournament, Northwestern professors give lectures and strategy advice to the debaters on various topics. Then, when the debate tournament begins, those lecture topics are among the topics that the debaters may select. Each debater gets a new topic during each round of competition, and they only learn what their topic is 30 minutes in advance.

The third installment of debate nationals is CFL Nationals, held in Washington, D.C., this year. Several more of our debaters will be joining many of the debaters already mentioned, to compete there. Among them: John Carlson will be competing in congressional debate, debating whether or certain bills should be passed into law. Our freshman public forum team of Michael Scellato and Carter Stewart will also be competing in Washington.

Debate Nationals wrap up in June, nearby in Fort Lauderdale, FL, where seniors Alyson Brusie, Robbie Linck, and Harrison Koeppel will compete. Good luck to all our debaters!

A Day at the Federal Courthouse- February 26, 2018

This morning, Oxbridge Debaters and some students from the classes of Mr. Curtis and Dr. Chiarolanzio headed to our nearby Federal Courthouse, to hear from and work with lawyers and judges in a new program that was designed by United States District Judge Robin Rosenberg and a colleague of hers, United States District Judge Beth Bloom.

The morning began with a knowledge “reality” pretest, which students took to assess their knowledge of legal issues that could affect teens in everyday life, ranging from social media and video-posting to traffic violations and marijuana use.

After the pretest, various lawyers each shared personal stories with the students about how they chose careers in the legal profession, emphasizing the importance of each individual defining success in his or her own way… making personal choices that will make them happy, reflect what they value, and be meaningful to them in a personal way.

The lawyers then discussed the importance of civil discourse with our students, going over group discussion strategies and guidelines that would help students learn how to maturely and effectively communicate, even in the face of disagreement, controversy, or heated emotions. Once the communication strategies were covered, prep for the upcoming trial simulation began.

Attorneys went over a court case with the students, explaining the circumstances, accusations, and arguments related to it. The case was Elonis v United States, a 2015 United States Supreme Court case in which a man was arrested and criminally charged for posting threatening messages from his facebook account. The man claimed that he was an aspiring rapper, and that the posting was simply artistic expression and therapeutic release, after losing his job and being left by his wife. He also posted a disclaimer. Still, the trial court ruled that if reasonable people heard the comment and perceived it as a threat, then the comment passed the legal threat test. He was sentenced to 44 months in prison, but he appealed his case, and it made it up to the Supreme Court. In 2015, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower courts, ruling that the reasonable person standard was not sufficient to confirm a threat.

After discussing the Elonis case, students were presented a similar fictional case, which was more relevant to the lives of high schoolers: a case in which an 18-year-old boy, Andy Jackson, angrily posted threatening messages on Facebook, after seeing his girlfriend hold hands with another boy. In the Facebook posts, he wrote: “Hey, guy, better get ready for a scare, ‘cuz the next thing you know, you’ll disappear in thin air.” He said that he’s “gonna make them pay,” and that no college will recruit someone who “can only play in the Paralympics.” These posts were followed by skull and crossbones emojis and winking emojis. The girl’s parents contacted authorities, and Andy was charged with two counts of violating federal law. He was charged with having transmitted “communication containing [a] threat to injure the person of another.”

Then, four student defense attorneys had a work session with United States Attorney Carolyn Bell, while four student prosecutors worked with Criminal Defense Attorney Valentin Rodriguez. The two groups began to discuss the case, draft arguments, and prepare for their courtroom arguments. In the meantime, attorneys Stephanie Moon and Alexa Klein worked with the rest of the Oxbridge students, discussing the case with them from the perspective of jurors. Moon, Klein and the students analyzed the merits of the case and some possible arguments on both sides.

Soon, the students were prepped for trial. Students participated in simulated trial proceedings, presenting oral arguments before United States Magistrate Judge William Matthewman and the student jurors.

The defense side was represented by: Sebastien Limbourg, Mya Hunter, Nickolas Chen, and Alyson Brusie. Freshman debater Mya Hunter spoke on how the winky face emoji showed that the posting was made in a joking way, and not with serious or threatening intent. Her co-counsel Alyson Brusie talked about the importance of free speech to a diverse marketplace of ideas and expression.

The prosecution side was represented by: Martina Cavard, Aaliyah Stanton, Robbie Linck, and Michael Scellato. Senior Martina Cavard characterized the meaning of the winky face as tricky, sneaky, and more sinister.

Student attorneys continued presenting arguments on both sides, and fielded questions from Judge Matthewman, and then, the student jurors began discussion and deliberations, sharing their views on the evidence presented, the arguments heard, and the context of the case. The students embraced some of the civil discourse strategies and ideas that they had learned earlier in the morning. In the end, the student jury was a hung jury. Dissatisfied with that outcome, the student defenders and prosecutors asked for one last chance to sway the jurors’ opinions, and gave one last closing statement. Debate team captain Alyson Brusie spoke for the defense, and her public forum debate partner, Robbie Linck, spoke for the prosecution.

Among the jurors, were freshmen Alex Dagher and Jeri Pryor. Coming out of the event, Alex Dagher said, “It was really nice that I got to experience what it was really like to be inside a courtroom and be a juror. It’s nothing like what you see on TV, so it was good to see how the trial process is in real life.” Dagher ended up personally siding with the prosecution, saying we should react on threats to be better safe than sorry. Jeri Pryor commented: “Today really opened my eyes more on federal cases, on the differences between the current generation and past generations, and on how different communication is today with social media.” Jeri struck a special connection with Mrs. Moon, who seemed to enjoy Jeri’s truthfulness and her straight-to-the-point contributions. Jeri was torn between the arguments of the prosecution and the defense, and found herself on the fence in jury deliberation.

Although the jury was divided, Judge Matthewman said in the end that he leaned toward the defense, because the prosecution had the burden of proof, and there was a degree of uncertainty surrounding the intentions and meaning of the Facebook posts in question. But the judges and lawyers alike were impressed with the Oxbridge students’ arguments, questions, and enthusiasm for the simulation.

In her closing remarks, Judge Rosenberg cautioned the students to always use their best careful judgement when considering actions that could have consequences. She also reiterated the importance of maintaining respect and civility when dealing with contentious topics and sensitive situations, pointing out that many people who are educated and intelligent disagree on various topics. When people disagree about something, it is still important to respect each other, value each other, and communicate together to find common ground and to find ways to move forward. This interactive program that she created was the perfect environment to share these lessons and insights with our students. Oxbridge debater Ellis Lee called it “an informative inside look at what really goes on in courtrooms,” and said that he really enjoyed learning from the attorneys and judges.

Oxbridge sends a special thank you to United States District Judge Robin Rosenberg, United States Attorney Carolyn Bell, Attorney Stephanie Moon, Attorney Alexa Klein, Magistrate Judge William Mathewman, and all the other attorneys and courthouse personnel who made the event possible!

Special Guests at the Harvard Debates

This past weekend, 28 Oxbridge Debaters headed to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to compete in one of the largest debate tournaments in the nation. Students came from about 300 schools from 39 states, plus China and the Dominican Republic, to compete there in about a dozen different formats of debate and public speaking.

Congratulations to our debaters who were recognized at the tournament!

• Senior Nick Chen, Octofinalist, Extemporaneous Speaking
• Seniors Alyson Brusie and Robbie Linck, Double Octofinalists, Public Forum Debate
• Sophomores Alex Goetschius and Ayden Wells, Triple Octofinalists, Public Forum Debate
• Sophomore Alex Goetschius, Speaker Award in Public Forum Debate
• Freshman Carter Stewart, Speaker Award in Public Forum Debate

Also among our students were:

• Freshman Ava Givone, competing in congressional debate, debating about topics relating to if the US should change its relations with Saudi Arabia, how the jury selection process should work, and how to best stop welfare fraud.

• Sophomore Daymon Cantave, competing in extemporaneous speaking, speaking on current events topics including foreign policy, feminism, and economics. (Right: Daymon preps for his extemp topics at the Harvard Bookstore.)

• Junior Sarah Sadati, competing in public forum debate, debating about whether or not we should abolish the capital gains tax.

During the trip, the debaters saw several special visitors. Oxbridge’s first ever Debate National Champion, Kella Merlain-Moffatt, joined the team and worked with freshmen Kayla Brusie and Nadia Sadati on their performance pieces. Kella was National Champion in Dramatic Interpretation during her years at Oxbridge, and now currently studies International Relations with a concentration in Africa, at Tufts University.

Our team also worked with former Oxbridge debaters Conner Gutch and Jack Eubanks during the tournament.

Mayor Marc McGovern of Cambridge, Massachusetts paid Harvard congressional debaters a special visit, speaking during their awards ceremony. McGovern spoke about how he got into politics, his passion for helping his community, and his hopes that our young congressional debaters will become our future government leaders.

The debaters had another special visitor as well: Former Oxbridge English teacher Meg Gayton joined the team for a trip to the Harvard Bookstore and a team dinner!

On the final night of the trip, Debaters took a quick stop at MIT to explore some of the campus, before heading back to Oxbridge to prep for Debate National Qualifiers. Good luck to our debaters at their upcoming qualifier tournaments!

Oxbridge Debaters Heading to State Championships!

Congratulations to our Oxbridge Debaters who competed at the district qualifiers this weekend and have made it to State Championships! At State Qualifiers, several of our debaters had significant moments and achievements.

Seniors Alyson Brusie and Robbie Linck won first place in public forum debate, going undefeated throughout the tournament. Sophomores Alex Goetschius and Ayden Wells also went undefeated, taking second place in public forum debate. Our public forum debaters debated topic was: Should the US abolish capital gains tax?

Senior Hannah Moross made it to State Championships for the first time, in the category of Original Oratory, an event that requires students to write their own creative writing speech, which makes a persuasive argument about a societal problem of their choosing. Hannah’s speech humorously addresses the dangers of technology making life move too fast for us, and the consequences of rushing through life as a result.

Mya Hunter qualified to State Championships in domestic extemporaneous speaking. Extemp requires students to write a speech that answers a current events question. The questions change every debate round, and the debaters have 30 minutes to prepare and memorize their speech, and then 7 minutes to speak in front of a judge, who evaluates and compares them to other students. Mya was the only freshman from Oxbridge to qualify.

Also, team co-captain and Senior Nickolas Chen won first place in international extemporaneous speaking, speaking on global topics including: Is Russia regaining its Soviet Era influence over Western Europe? and, Why is terrorism so prevalent in the Middle East?

A complete listing of the Oxbridge debaters who will compete at the 2018 Florida Debate State Championships, in Orlando in March follows:

In Public Forum Debate (Partner Debate):

• Alyson Brusie and Robbie Linck
• Ayden Wells and Alex Goetschius
• Eli Reitman and Walker Stewart

In Original Oratory (Argumentative Creative Writing):

• Hannah Moross

In International Extemporaneous Speaking (Current Events):

• Nick Chen
• Harrison Koeppel
• Brian Reinhart

In Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking (US Current Events):

• Mya Hunter
• Sean Jassenoff
• Ellis Lee

Congratulations to our debaters, and good luck to the team as they head to Harvard later this month!