Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
The Amos J. Peaslee Debate Society competed at Princeton University’s debate tournament this weekend, taking on the top teams in the U.S. as well as a small contingent from Oxford University. Aviva Aron-Dine ’05 and Emily Tredeau ’06 won four of five preliminary rounds en route to qualifying for octo-finals, and then proceeded to win three rounds again debaters from MIT, Amherst, Yale and Dartmouth to earn a finals berth against Johns Hopkins on the resolution “This house believes that spreading democracy is the best way to fight terrorism.” Debating the negative side of the proposition that Russia should give Chechnya limited democratic self-rule, Aron-Dine and Tredeau defeated their opponents on a 10-1 judges decision to take the title and place first among 94 teams.
Also at the tournament, Julie Baker ’08 and Molly Piels ’08 were the 3rd place novice team out of 33 novice teams, and Michael Pollack ’08 and Natalie Bowlus ’08 were the 8th place novice team. Aron-Dine was 5th place overall speaker and Baker was 9th place novice speaker.
Thanks to Garth Sheldon-Coulson for providing the results.