For release: January 24, 2011
For press information, contact Curt Guenther, 901-678-2843

Two city high school varsity debate teams, under the sponsorship of the Memphis Urban Debate League Advisory Board, will present a public debate on the issue of the surrender of the Memphis City Schools charter on Saturday, Feb. 12^th, at 4 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Psychology Building at the University of Memphis. 

The debate is open to the public, and admission is free. 

The debate will pit Carver High School’s team against that of Middle College High School.  The topic will be “Resolved: The voters of the City of Memphis should vote to transfer the administration of Memphis City Schools to the Shelby County Board of Education.”  Carver’s team will argue the affirmative position and Middle College the negative.

The student debaters will present fact-based arguments through a series of constructive and rebuttal speeches and cross examination. “Debaters will follow the standard high school policy debate format,” said Jim Sdoia, advisory board president.  “For an hour and a half, they will present fact-based arguments through a series of constructive and rebuttal speeches and cross examination.

“The purpose of the debate is to present information to the public on this vital issue before the referendum vote, in order to help the community make a fully informed decision.  Also, we’ll be showcasing the talents of some of our extraordinary student debaters.”

The Memphis Urban Debate League Advisory Board is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization responsible for the strategic planning, volunteer and paid staff coordination, advocacy, supplemental fundraising and deployment of university technical expertise for the Memphis Urban Debate League (MUDL). Currently, MUDL is active in 21 Memphis City High Schools and 2 Charter High Schools. Over 260 student debaters compete in the program at two levels – varsity and junior varsity.

The advisory board is a private group of civic and community leaders who banded together to return high school academic policy debate to the Memphis City School (MCS) system after an absence of more than 40 years.  The Memphis Urban Debate League is a partnership between MCS and the Advisory Board.