2008-04-02
Drexel to Award $30,000 in Debate Scholarships
Philadelphia, PA-March 26, 2008-All eyes will turn to Philadelphia high school students on as students compete for pride, academic improvement, and even scholarship money. Students from 10 Philadelphia public and charter schools will debate at the 2nd Annual Voices of Philadelphia Debate Tournament, held Saturday, April 19, 2008, at Drexel University's Main Building.
Throughout the academic year, students at 10 Philadelphia high schools have worked with college volunteers from Perspectives Debate Inc., a Philadelphia-based non-profit that promotes debate education. Started by former Pennsylvania high school debaters now at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, Perspectives seeks to reach students who have traditionally been underserved. Nationally, African-American students represent only 2 percent of high school debate students; female students represent only 36 percent of all high school debate students. In Perspectives' afterschool debate programs, 52 percent of students are African-American, and 59 percent are female students. To date, every single student who has graduated from a Perspectives program has gone on to attend college. In 2007 alone, alumni from Perspectives' summer debate program earned more than $500,000 in scholarships.
Since January, students in Perspectives' afterschool debate programs have been researching, writing cases, and debating a topic addressing U.S. foreign policy. Perspectives' 2nd Annual Voices of Philadelphia Debate Tournament will be the culmination of their efforts. And for many, these efforts will greatly pay off. Drexel University is sponsoring the tournament and awarding $30,000 in scholarships exclusively to the Top 5 students who compete at this tournament. The participating schools are: Bodine High School for International Affairs, Constitution High School, Mathematics, Civics, and Sciences Charter School, Parkway Center City High School, Paul Robeson High School, Science Leadership Academy, Anna H. Shaw Middle School, William Penn High School, Franklin Towne Charter School, and World Communications Charter School.
While these students have been preparing on this topic for months, the competition will not be easy. At the Voices of Philadelphia Debate Tournament, students will compete in 3 preliminary rounds of competition. The top students from preliminary rounds will then compete in single-elimination rounds, until the Top 2 students emerge and compete in a Final Round, judged by a distinguished panel of individuals.
The judges for the Final Round are: Jane Dalton, Esq., Immediate Past Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association and Partner at Duane Morris LLP; Thomas Elzey, Senior Vice President for Finance and Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Drexel University; Dr. Sandra Featherman, President of the Board of the Samuel S. Fels Fund; John Heaton, Esq., Secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons; Jo Ann Bradley Jones, Deputy Director of Housing of the City of Philadelphia; Larry Mendte, Anchor for CBS 3 Eyewitness News; and Elizabeth Vale, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley.
All members of the community are invited to watch the Final Round of debate and attend the awards ceremony and reception. RSVPs are requested to be sent to voices@philadebate.org.
Event Details:
Voices of Philadelphia Debate Tournament
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Drexel University, Main Building
32nd and Chestnut Streets
2:30 Demonstration Debate
3:30 Dessert Reception
4:00 Final Round
5:00 Awards Ceremony
About Perspectives Debate Inc.
Perspectives is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2005 by college students now at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, who are former debaters themselves. Perspectives was founded with an angel grant from H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest and have since been supported by the Samuel S. Fels Fund, Phoebe Haas Charitable Trust "A", as recommended by Carole Haas Gravagno, and the Philadelphia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Since its founding, Perspectives has educated students from 40 schools in 8 states, with a focus on the Philadelphia region. Perspectives seeks to provide opportunities for students to participate in debate through its afterschool, tournament, and summer enrichment programs, with an emphasis on underserved students in Philadelphia schools. See www.philadebate.org for more details.
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lilly Deng
Perspectives Debate Inc.
lilly@philadebate.org
(215) 498-0589
###
Perspectives is a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization promoting youth debate education. Students who debate dramatically increase their reading comprehension, critical thinking, and public speaking skills. In the process, debate becomes a forum to foster youth achievement and civic responsibility. Perspectives has worked with over 400 students in 8 states through afterschool, summer, and special events. www.philadebate.org