By Sara Poric ’26
On Nov. 1 of this year, around 40 DHS students and three teachers went on a field trip to Bloomfield, Connecticut to watch The Great Debate between Yale University and Howard University at The First Cathedral hosted by the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). Social Studies teachers James Piazza and Spencer Butterworth, and English teacher Nicole Borges supervised the trip. The debate was divided into two topics; the first was about whether or not the social media platform, “TikTok,” should be banned, while the second was about whether professional sports leagues should adopt a policy where coaches could hire family members.
DHS has attended The Great Debate for the second consecutive time. Last year, The Great Debate discussed the discontinuation of Teacher Certification Exams and AI in the music industry. Nedaat Masiat ‘26 believed this year’s debate was better, stating, “I found this year’s debate was more interesting overall, and I enjoyed this year’s topics more than last year’s.” However, Butterworth did not attend last year’s debate and thought differently. He commented, “I had heard from students and staff who attended last year’s debate that it had a much more formal argumentative structure, so I’m hoping the debate itself is a bit more substantial next year.”
The structure of this year’s debate had been a problem for some. Butterworth adds, “I wish the debate was longer, to be honest. I feel like the event itself was structured in such a way that it limited debate time, and I think the debaters felt the time crunch, as well, since they tried to get as much information out as possible. There were some quality points made, but I wish we had more of the actual back and forth between the two universities.” Piazza notes, “I almost think they were too well prepared. The problem I had watching the debate was that they would speak so fast that we in the audience were left saying, ‘What did they just say?’ If you could understand what they were saying, it was really good and insightful stuff, but if they had a different format where they would’ve been able to get the information out, it would’ve probably helped. I felt like slower speakers articulated it better because you could actually understand and sit there and think about what they were saying, whereas the ones who were a little faster were just overwhelming. I would’ve liked to see them get more time or more opportunities to speak.”
It is important for students to attend these types of events because “it exposes them to logical arguments and different perspectives,“ as Raelynn Harris ‘25 explains. Butterworth builds on that, saying, “I think events in this style, live, in-person debates, can help students understand what a formalized debate looks like. Seeing two high-quality schools like Howard and Yale send their debate teams to Bloomfield, Connecticut is important just for representation and to give this advanced experience to middle school students and high school students around the state.” Masiat believes it gives students “a taste of what they might want to do in the future. It also gives them different outlooks to different topics so they could form their own opinions.” Piazza reckons that “giving young minds a platform to express themselves or showing off what they could do” is one of the reasons why students attending these types of events are important.
Photo from Instagram.com: Flier promoting The Great Debate.
The Raider Press 