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| Members of the Ateneo Debate Society pose for a photo during a layover in Abu Dhabi on their way to Spain to compete in the World Universities Debating Chamgjpionship. The image was posted on Facebook on Dec. 26, 2022 |
The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC), one of the most prominent international academic debating events, has been won by the Philippines for the first time.
The open category finals were held in Madrid, Spain early on Wednesday, January 4, and a team made up of students from Ateneo de Manila University named David Africa and Tobi Leung took first place (Philippine time).
They triumphed over teams from Tel Aviv University in Israel, Sofia University in Bulgaria, and Princeton University in the United States.
During the finals held in Madrid, Spain, a team made up of Ateneo de Manila University students David Africa and Tobi Leung defeated teams from Princeton University in the United States, Tel Aviv University in Israel, and Sofia University in Bulgaria.
The teams argued on the philosophical idea that "people's identities should be shaped by, and their obligations should be owed to, their communities" or the statement "this house favors a future where all individuals have a deep belief in Ubuntu."
Leung and Africa, who both major in applied mathematics, came in second and eighth place, respectively, and Hadar Goldberg of Tel Aviv University took home the prize for being the best speaker.
After two of its teams advanced to the WUDC finals, which were virtually hosted by South Korea in 2021, Ateneo also made history. That year, they were defeated by the University of Zagreb team.
Another team from Ateneo also reached the finals last year hosted virtually by the University of Belgrade in Serbia. The team from BRAC University from Bangladesh took the top prize.
Ateneo president Roberto Yap congratulated Africa, Leung and the Ateneo Debate Society for “their unprecedented inspiring victory” in this year’s WUDC.
“Their win is proof that our debaters can stand head and shoulders above their peers from some of the best universities in the world. Thank you, David and Tobi, for the immense pride you have brought to the Ateneo community, to our nation and to the Southeast Asia region,” Yap said .
Ateneo Wins the World Debate Championship, Making History
https://www.onenews.ph/articles/ateneo-makes-history-wins-world-debate-championship
https:www.majait.net