The University of Mary Washington will host a debate workshop designed to promote the revival of intercollegiate debate at some of the nation’s most distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on the Fredericksburg campus August 9-14.
Delegations consisting of students, faculty and administrators from seven schools and six different states will participate in the week-long program. The schools include Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, Hampton University and Norfolk State University in Virginia, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Morgan State University in Maryland, Savannah State University in Georgia and Vorhees College in South Carolina.
The workshop is part of an ongoing project by the UMW Debate Program to forge partnerships with HBCUs to revive the tradition of debate—a tradition from which the intellectual roots of the civil rights movement emerged.
“Debate is a high-impact educational activity which not only provides students the skills for career and citizenship, but it also is a proven method of fostering student engagement and academic achievement,” said Timothy O’Donnell, UMW’s director of debate. “These institutions are embarking on a journey that will make a real difference in the life of both their institutions and their students.”
Associate professor of communication, O’Donnell is chairman of the National Debate Committee. In January 2009, he helped organize the Inauguration Debate Series, which brought six schools to Washington, D.C. on the eve of the presidential inauguration to debate the priorities of the Obama administration.
UMW has a special connection to debate at the nation’s HBCUs through James Farmer, the civil rights leader and long time professor of history and American studies. Farmer, himself was a debater at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, a story depicted in the major motion picture “The Great Debaters.”
In addition to faculty from UMW, workshop sessions will be led by leading debate educators, including coaches from Harvard, Boston College and Clarion University. The workshop is a collaborative effort between UMW, The White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and The Debate Consortium.
For more information, contact: Timothy O’Donnell (540-654-1252).
News release prepared by: Marty Morrison