Brown Debating Union
Encyclopedia
The Brown Debating Union is a student-run debating organization at Brown University
in Providence, RI. It has existed since 1824 and its many members include CNN
founder Ted Turner
, who was a vice-president of the Union. It began to organize formal debate tournaments with peer institutions, as well as on-campus disputes for student groups, during the early twentieth century. By the 1950s, the debate program had become part of the Brown University English Department. Competing on the National Debate Tournament
circuit, the debate team was fairly successful.
However, in the 1980s the English department stopped funding the team, and the BDU became an autonomous student organization funded by the Undergraduate Finance Board. Without the funds to participate in costly policy debate, they participated in parliamentary debate. The Union currently competes in debate tournaments held by the American Parliamentary Debate Association. Their annual debate tournament takes place in the first weekend of November every year.
Contemporary alumni include Dr. Alfred C. "Tuna" Snider '72, the Lawrence Professor of Foresnsics at the University of Vermont in Burlington; Kit Kinports '76, Professor of Law at Penn State University Dickinson in Carlisle; and Keith Hemmerling '77, President of the Hemmerling Foundation in Los Angeles.
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in Providence, RI. It has existed since 1824 and its many members include CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
founder Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
, who was a vice-president of the Union. It began to organize formal debate tournaments with peer institutions, as well as on-campus disputes for student groups, during the early twentieth century. By the 1950s, the debate program had become part of the Brown University English Department. Competing on the National Debate Tournament
National Debate Tournament
The National Debate Tournament is one of the national championships for collegiate policy debate in the United States. The tournament is sponsored by the American Forensic Association with the Ford Motor Company Fund.-History of the NDT:...
circuit, the debate team was fairly successful.
However, in the 1980s the English department stopped funding the team, and the BDU became an autonomous student organization funded by the Undergraduate Finance Board. Without the funds to participate in costly policy debate, they participated in parliamentary debate. The Union currently competes in debate tournaments held by the American Parliamentary Debate Association. Their annual debate tournament takes place in the first weekend of November every year.
Contemporary alumni include Dr. Alfred C. "Tuna" Snider '72, the Lawrence Professor of Foresnsics at the University of Vermont in Burlington; Kit Kinports '76, Professor of Law at Penn State University Dickinson in Carlisle; and Keith Hemmerling '77, President of the Hemmerling Foundation in Los Angeles.