Join us at the summer institute for trophies, celebrations, and a chance to speak your mind on the most important issues facing our world today.

The time is here: this week marks the BAUDL’s Third Annual Summer Institute @ Westlake Middle School (2629 Harrison Street in Oakland).  From 9AM to 3PM on August 9 – 13, youth from across the Bay, regardless of whether they have debated are not, are welcome to attend this series of workshops, activities, and the summer debate tournament on the final day of the Institute!  Registration is not required — come as you are, and bring friends and family! If you are new to debate, you have much to look forward to.  We will show you the power of debate and how your individual voice can be heard on some of the most important issues of the day. If you are a veteran debater, the week will be a space to perfect your skills and will serve as an introduction to an incredible new topic on military power.

Our award-winning staff has worked hard to prepare you for our third season.  Much is awaiting you on August 9 – 13 at Westlake Middle School (2629 Harrison Street): the institute is a great chance to meet young people from San Francisco and Oakland, to learn more about the world and how can make an impact on it, and to build your personal powers of argument and persuasion.  No experience, no registration form, no reservations required.

Click here to view the official BAUDL Summer Institute Flyer!

A curious Natassija Jordan (right) was among the dozen students attending the Gonzaga Debate Institute.

Fifteen Students Awarded Scholarships to Prestigious National Debate Camps!

Beginning in mid-July, 15 of the BAUDL’s most dedicated debaters traveled to attend the Cal National Debate Institute at the University of California, Berkeley and the Gonzaga Debate Institute (GDI) in Spokane, Washington – two of the most prestigious debate camps in the nation.  The excursions, made possible by scholarships funded generously by the Julia Burke Foundation, will be filled with lessons in debate theory, technique, and critical thinking, and have already generated serious excitement among the students.  Downtown High School coach Anne Marie Grace recounts the reaction one of her students:

“When he opened the envelope he sat for about 10 minutes (literally) with a big grin on his face and his hand on his chest…In the car on our way back he was asking questions about Washington weather and musing aloud about how he would need to get a back pack for his stuff. Then he burst out, “Oh no! I don’t have a passport!”

With all such logistical problems well-resolved, our students were on their way on July 11.

The BAUDL Summer Institute @ Westlake Middle School, August 9-13

Funded by the Julia Burke Foundation and free of charge to all Oakland and San Francisco Unified School District students, the BAUDL will host its Third Annual Summer Institute.  Boasting a staff of award-winning BAUDL alums, community advocates, lawyers, and decorated college debaters, the five days will focus on everything from debate basics to the 2010-2011 Resolution:  The United States federal government should substantially reduce its military and/or police presence in one or more of the following:  South Korea, Japan, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, and Turkey.

Mission High School coach Tadd Scott (left) celebrates with Novice Champions Janny Ye and Alinah Torno at the Skyline High School Tournament.

This year marked the BAUDL’s second in existence and the first of its ambitious plan to expand across the Bay to introduce debate to San Francisco high schools.  BAUDL and the San Francisco Unified School District agreed to launch debate teams in three high schools – Mission High, Balboa High, and Downtown High – to join those already operating in 12 high schools in Oakland. In each of these new schools, debate has caught on strongly.  Our expansion into San Francisco helped us reach our goal of reaching 250 students participating in our programs this year.

San Francisco Unified’s schools were hardly intimidated by their relative inexperience compared to their cross-bay competitors.  The team from Mission High ended the year by winning the Novice Division Championship in the last regular-season tournament. Better yet, Zachary Delle and Alan Lin from Balboa High qualified as one of the two teams representing BAUDL at the Chase National Urban Debate Championship tournament held in New York City, and came home from that tournament with an impressive 3-3 record.  With results like this after only a year of debating, we are excited to see what our San Francisco debaters will achieve in the future.

With Tanesha Walker, Rashid Campbell (above) advanced to the final round at Nationals.

In April, four students and their coaches traveled to New York City to compete against the top teams from 24 urban debate leagues representing cities across the country in the annual Urban Debate National Championship.  The team from Oakland, made up of EXCEL’s Tanesha Walker and Skyline’s Rashid Campbell, reached the tournament’s final round to be crowned runners-up of the national championship bracket for the nation’s youngest urban debate leagues.  Along the way, they dispatched successful teams from Atlanta, Dallas, and Memphis, ultimately meeting the eventual national champions from Denver in the tournament’s final round.

Rashid, who has earned a full-ride scholarship to debate at Oklahoma University next year, had already earned a 14th-place speaker’s gavel trophy for his unique oratory skills which were on display through the six 84-minute debates held over the first two days of the tournament.  Rashid remarked to his coach and BAUDL staff on his way home from the tournament that the weekend had been the “greatest experience of my life!”  EXCEL coach Sebastian Castrechini further adds his perspective on the tournament experience:

Rashid quickly built up a reputation as the one who raps during his speeches, and Tanesha and Rashid were able to build his raps into an argument about how important it is to include the voices of common people — the people for whom this year’s topic is trying to solve — into policy discourses.  I think that is a great example of what [Skyline Coach Chris Scheer] talked about in terms of our kids finding a place where they can fit in the world of academics.  Another incredibly valuable piece of the experience was getting to interact with other debaters and coaches from around the country.  Tanesha found another person who will be going to UCLA, and they both connected with Ed Lee to figure out a way to start a policy debate team there.  They built friendships (as well as rivalries) with the other debaters and even exchanged contact information with some of their judges who offered to talk through ideas for arguments with them.  I think being tapped into that network of people is going to be invaluable to them finding future opportunities.  Even aside from their success, I was thrilled that the two of them got to be a part of this, which they both did so much to earn.

Former Executive Director Blake Johnson (Far Right) with the Fremont Federation of High Schools Debate Team.

For the past two years, the BAUDL has operated under the dedicated leadership of founding Executive Director Blake Johnson.  After countless hours of service, Blake will be handing over the reins of the BAUDL to pursue a law degree.  The BAUDL will be sorry to say goodbye to such a talented leader and friend; still, his departure comes with our assurance to all of our supporters that nothing will change with respect to the BAUDL’s mission and programming.

Along these lines, we are excited to announce an expansion in our organizational capacity: we have launched a nationwide search for two full-time positions, an Executive Director and a Program Director.   We encourage you to spread word of our search widely to qualified candidates.  For more information about these positions, please visit our Join Us page!

In the meantime, BAUDL is pleased to announce that Dmitri Seals has accepted an offer to serve as interim Executive Director while we conduct these searches.  In addition to his role as a founding member of the BAUDC Board of Directors, Dmitri led the push to establish the urban debate league in Oakland, and has been deeply involved in all aspects of the program from its inception.  Through the innumerable volunteer hours he has dedicated to this organization – among other things spearheading teacher professional development, volunteer training, and program evaluation for the league – he has proven both his devotion to the BAUDL mission and his skill in advancing that mission.

It’s been a long summer, so the wait is finally over: The Bay Area Urban Debate League will be reunited on Saturday, July 10 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM @ Snow Park (19th and Harrison Streets, Oakland).  Coming off the success of our Winter Social in January where bowling met brilliant debaters, our summer event only aims to be bigger and better.  The Party will feature free food, great conversation that has become associated with BAUDL debaters, appearances by talented alums and, most of all, incredible company that includes new and returning students.  We highly encourage attendance by BAUDLers of the past and present (and their families and friends) along with coaches, volunteers, supporters – the whole BAUDL community.  It will be a great time to (re)connect with all of those who have made this League the incredible movement that it is today.

For more information, contact us at !  We look forward to seeing you on July 10 from 5:30 to 7:30 @ Snow Park!