USU Debate Team Competes in Unique International Event via Skype

Utah State University’s speech and debate team took first place March 18 after a two-day debate tournament hosted by Afghans for Progressive Thinking.

USU students Brayden O’ Brien and Haylee Hunsaker competed in the two-person team that won the tournament after going undefeated.

The tournament, which is in its third year, is hosted entirely through Skype and accepted only 20 universities that spanned seven countries from around the world. Each debate round took place in a Skype video chat room that consisted of the two competing teams and a judge.

Tom Worthen, the USU speech and debate coach, said one of the unique challenges of the tournament was the differences in time zones. For USU, the debate rounds started late in the evenings and ended early in the mornings.

A non-profit organization, Afghans for Progressive Thinking, organizes the Debate Without Borders Skype Tournament. It was founded in 2010 by Aref Dostyar — who created the organization in hopes of creating intercultural dialogues.

Worthen said the debate team enjoyed the opportunity to exchange ideas across cultures and to bring together students to discuss the challenging issues facing the world.

“It was amazing to hear how informed other countries are about issues in the United States and the effects those issues have on their lives,” he said.

This was USU’s first time competing in this style of debate on an international level.

Related links:

USU Department of Languages, Philosophy and Communication Studies

USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Contact: Tom Worthen, 435-994-0023, drtom@poeticpower.com

Writer: Jackson Murphey, USU Public Relations and Marketing intern, 435-797-0206, jackson.murphy@usu.edu