Debate team wins U-M tournament

In what is shaping up to be another strong year, the Greenhills Debate Team last weekend won the Public Forum division of the University of Michigan High School Debate Tournament. 

The team, consisting of senior Harry Bagenstos and sophomore Aarushi Ganguly, went undefeated in preliminary rounds, then defeated a team from Homewood-Flossmoor (Illinois) and two teams from Cranbrook to sweep the elimination rounds. Bagenstos was also named second speaker in preliminary rounds, and junior Mubarak Hassan was named the eighth speaker.

In October, Greenhills Debate racked up accolades across the country. The team made it to finals at the Pappas Invitational Tournament held at Wayne State University, and reached elimination rounds at the New York City Invitational Tournament hosted by the Bronx High School of Science.

Greenhills Debate competes in Michigan and throughout the nation all year. The team is the defending state champion, has qualified for the national championship tournaments of both the National Speech and Debate Association and the National Catholic Forensic League for each of the past three years, and last year qualified to the highly prestigious Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky.

In the Public Forum event, two-person teams debate topics that change monthly. The November 2017 topic is, “Resolved: The United States should require universal background checks for all gun sales and transfers of ownership.” Participants must be prepared to debate both sides of the topic. The activity provides students an opportunity to get to know other debaters from around the state and the country, and to develop their speaking, research, writing, and analytical thinking skills.