2008-01-10
2008 PDI Application Now Available!
January 10, 2007—Applications to the 2008 Philadelphia Debate Institute (PDI), are now available. Held August 17-24, 2008 at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, The Philadelphia Debate Institute is a week-long, residential summer program that brings together students for intensive debate preparation. In 2007, 36 students from 23 schools in 6 states attended. For 2008, the institute expects to bring together 56 students from more than 8 states. The 2008 faculty includes some of the most esteemed teaching staff available in the nation, including Josh Marshall and Ali Huberlie.
The Philadelphia Debate Institute is unique program. Now in its 4th year, PDI is the #1 nonprofit Lincoln-Douglas Debate Program in the country. In prior years, it was the lowest cost summer institute of 56 summer debate camps in the United States, and one of the few that offered 100% financial assistance. As part of its founding principles to be affordable and accessible, nearly 40% of students in past years have received scholarships to attend.
Students from PDI have gone on to win prestigious tournaments including the University of Pennsylvania Liberty Bell Classic, Princeton Invitational, and Wake Forest Invitational. Graduating students from the 2005 and 2006 PDI earned half a million dollars in college scholarships in 2007, and100% of program alum are currently enrolled in 4-year. In addition, all past Senior Fellows in college are currently enrolled at Ivy League universities.
The Philadelphia Debate Institute was founded in 2005 to fulfill a critical need to providing a low-cost summer program to help underserved students hone their debating skills to a superior level. Since its founding, Perspectives has added enrichment opportunities for students, including a Community Voices Day, which brought 7 speakers to PDI to discuss college and career opportunities, as well as the Leadership Track, which PDI will introduce in 2008 to enable varsity students to learn how to be effective agents for change in their local debate communities.
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The Philadelphia Debate Institute is the signature program of Perspectives Debate Incorporated, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2005 by college students now at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University, who are former debaters themselves. Perspectives was begun with an angel grant from H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest and has since been supported by the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Phoebe Haas Charitable Trust “A” as recommended by Carole Haas Gravagno, the Philadelphia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, and many others. Since its founding, Perspectives has educated students from 30 schools in 8 states, with the majority of students from the Philadelphia region. See www.philadebate.org for more details.
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