The hall was crowded, yet the audience was dead silent. Their eyes were on the two teams. Sitting in front of each other and trying to catch every word of the opponent, the teams were holding intense debates. This was a battle, but the only weapon was speech. The debate among two very intellectually diverse teams ended up as an amazing, successful experience.
On March 18, the Yerevan State University’s Student Council hosted an intercollegiate debate competition between the students of the American University of Armenia (AUA) and the French University in Armenia (UFAR). The two groups were debating the topic of uniting state universities in Armenia under a single institution and its outcomes.
Elen Khosteghyan (PG junior), Aram Brunson (PG freshman), Styopa Asryan (MPH first year) and Vika Muradyan (BAB sophomore). During the debate, AUA’s team held a supporting position on the issue. This position was harder to support as the unification of state universities holds mass disapproval, especially among students. However, the team members strongly supported their ideas based on the search they had conducted.
This debate was the first-ever intercollegiate debate among Armenia’s universities. Davit Tovmasyan, the jury of the game, remembers this debate as “one of the most memorable.” This game was different as “Unlike usual debates, the teams had a bigger responsibility on their shoulders as they were representing not only just a group or a faculty, but their universities,” David adds.
The AUA team opened the debate with their proposition speech. The team members stated that unifying state universities under a single institution will surely function more effectively. By highlighting that there are overly too many state universities that mostly suggest their applicants have the same career paths, it would be better to allocate all the financial and human resources in one place. With that, the quality of education will flourish. The team also brought statistics on low enrollment in certain faculties and how the unified system can solve that.
The teams prepared beforehand for the first two rounds. The question-and-answer round seemed to be the most challenging one for the AUA team. It was not easy to prepare an ample answer in under a minute. Still, they gave a well-formulated response to the question.
After an hour of debating, gaining and losing points, the two teams were close to a draw. The final results from the debate were 74.5 points for AUA and 76.5 for UFAR. Despite losing the debate to the UFAR by only two points, our students demonstrated a very professional and promising game. “This was an excellent opportunity to improve working with different perspectives and understand how to find common ground,” Elen Khosteghyan, PG junior, a member of AUA debate team mentions. “This event was a good way for me to apply my skills.”
For the first time competing in an intercollegiate debate, the event served as an opportunity for AUA students to showcase their skills. This debate stood out with its “intellectual diversity,” Manana Davtyan, a member of the YSU Student Council, mentions. “It was interesting to see that two teams chose two very different strategies to win the debate,” she claims.
Participating in debates has a wide potential for upcoming partnerships. AUA’s intellectual team was invited, this time to a French University in Armenia, to participate in the “What? Where? When?” intellectual competition. In their turn, AUA hosted a science competition and invited other universities to take part in the game. This is evidence that AUA’s students build reliable relations with students from other universities in Armenia.
This kind of collaboration fosters cultural exchange and mutual respect among students, enriching the educational experience for all.
