On Friday, Willamette University Debate Union (WUDU) members Claire Mathews-Lingen '21, India Rockey '21, Inéz Nieves '24, Rou Rou Hutchinson '24 and Grace DeLee '21 participated in the annual Womxn Round Robin Debates co-hosted by Denver and Regis Universities.
This event is a unique opportunity for female and gender minority debaters to engage with each other within a largely male-dominated activity. The Worlds Style Debate community and the WUDU are always striving to make the space more inclusive.
The round robin led into the larger event for the rest of the weekend, the Western States Debating Championship, where debaters Mathews-Lingen, Nieves, Cole Garber '23 and Sally Wooster '24 faced off against 60 teams from 22 institutions largely based in the West. Students debated topics on identity-based scholarships, witchcraft, censorship, "Hot Girl Summer," space intelligence and climate engineering.
Wish our debaters luck on their national championship competition in April!
