Teams to face off in multilingual debate at the University of North Georgia
Several teams are scheduled to meet next Saturday and Sunday on the University of North Georgia’s Gainesville campus for a major competition.
It’s not college football. It’s the Great Latino Debate.
The two-day event, at the Martha T. Nesbitt Building, will have teams from five universities debating in English and Spanish. The teams are coming from the universities of North Georgia, Denver, La Verne and Miami and Cornell University.
The British Parliament-style debate, which began in 2012, is believed to be the only competition of its kind in the South.
Formal debates in Spanish are not common in the United States, explained Bryan Herrera, a UNG computer science major and debate organizer. Students will receive the topics just 15 minutes before the debate. The English and Spanish tournaments will take place simultaneously.
The winners will be announced at a banquet on Oct. 15.
About the Author
Eric Stirgus joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2001. He currently writes about higher education and has assisted in the newsroom’s COVID-19 vaccine coverage. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Eric is active in the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and the Education Writers Association and enjoys mentoring aspiring journalists.
