re: Harvard debate team loses to Upstate NY Prison team

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Let's see how they compare on the SATs or any objective competition of intelligence.

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why? What makes you so defensive about this situation?

The prisoners won fair and square in the competition they were competing in...no one is saying they're smarter or could get into harvard. Geez.

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the Harvard undergraduates said they were proud to lose

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sums up current generation ivy league mentality

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I got the impression that it was a point, counterpoint, rebuttal sort of debate.

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as a former master debater:

yes. college has different rulesets than i did as a HS, but the principal is the same.

Everybody competing is given a topic at the beginning of the year.

How can the federal government increase academic achievement in US public schools

How can the US improve diplomatic relations with Russia

How can the United States safely enforce US custom and migration policy.


Then everybody builds a case for that and presents the case. The case can be different, but it's your case. You get assigned or flip a coin to decide if you're presenting the case or trying to break the case down.

The affirmative presents the case, the negative cross examines them. then the negative gets up and presents points why the affirmative's plan won't work, is illegal, didn't answer the problem correctly, is already being addressed, etc. then the affirmative disputes and negative gets another say to bring up more points.

In theory, if you prove a single point as the negative, you win the debate. The affirmative has to present an airtight case for why their plan would work best and defend all points.

I went to a little 2A school and we competed against 5As all the time and won, so if the debaters from Harvard didn't have a good case, it's highly easy to beat.

I beat the 5A state champ as a sophomore, and then got trounced by a JV team from a podunk 6man school later that year.

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I got the impression that it was a point, counterpoint, rebuttal sort of debate.

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If it was typical college style debate then it was most likely them speaking as fast as they can to an inaudible rate.

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I"ll skip over the obvious questions/observations and ask...how did this even start? Like, how did Ivy League schools first think, "hmmm let's take our team to play some other folks...how bout the nearest prison?"

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I don't think it's Harvard's idea. I didn't read the full article, but the answer appears to be suggested in the OP...

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The three inmates, who are all serving time in Napanoch, N.Y., for violent crimes, have been studying as part of an initiative led by nearby Bard College. Before last month's Harvard debate, they had already scored victories against West Point and a University of Vermont team

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Bard College has a hand in training the inmates and probably works out the logistics to make the debates happen.

Elle Woods made it at Havard Law..... I'm not impressed with their acceptance criteria.