OCTOBER 07, 2022

On the weekend of September 30, the Nightingale debate team ventured to New Haven, Connecticut to attend the Yale University Invitational Debate Tournament—the first in person invitational Nightingale attended since February 2020. After getting off the train, students jumped into two rounds of debate against teams from all over the United States and Canada. Recent graduate and former debate captain, Anna Jamison '22 is a current freshman at Yale and met with the team to help coach them for the event.

“The weekend was composed of hours of back to back debates, but it was so much fun. Much of the team—me included—had never attended an in-person debate tournament before, let alone a travel one. However, not only did I learn so much about public forum debate and the topic but it was so nice to closely bond with five students from Nightingale's massive debate team,” Olivia Y. ’24 shared. “Overall, it was an amazing experience and I am so excited for more debate trips!”

Sasha H. '24 and Sarah Z. '24 cleared preliminary rounds, but lost on a 2-1 decision in out-rounds. Ria D. '24, Olivia Y. '24, Vivienne W. '24, and Arya K. '26 also competed. The topic, which was if the federal government should significantly increase investment in high speed rail, was resolved.

“Yale is a very competitive national tournament and I am so proud of our students for hustling to be ready for it,” Debate Advisor LE Hartmann shared.

“Debate, like any other activity, is difficult to replicate into an online format, so to be able to engage in it in its traditional format was exciting and a great learning experience,” Sasha H. ’24 said. “We worked really effectively as a team to prepare and share our evidence and cases, and had a great time being with one another as well.”