Every spring the UNR Debate Team holds a public debate on a timely topic. This year that topic was freedom of speech on college campuses.
"We hope the audience becomes more aware of issues related to freedom of speech and the complicated nature of regulating that in public spaces," said UNR Director of Forensics Phil Sharp. "We also hope some people may be encouraged to join the debate team from this experience and that we have more dialogue within the university community at large."
The students went up against alumni this time and they've been researching the topic for weeks.
"I spent hours pouring over old case law about this; I also looked to see what other people are saying," said Joshua Nelson, a senior on the Debate Team. "One of the things about debate is that you'll always be responding to what someone else has said. Even though this debate is a discrete event, it's still within the context of a larger discussion that we've been having in this country for years."
The skills these students hone in this arena are ones that translate to all kinds of real world applications.
"I realized as soon as I got in, that it could help me in so many other ways with research, essay writing and just being a well-informed citizen," Nelson said. "All of these things I've gotten from debate and I didn't even realize I was going to."
Nelson has spent six years on debate teams and though he's graduating next month, this one won't be his last.
"After I graduate in May I'll be traveling to China to coach debate," he said. "So this is my last undergraduate debate but I expect many more to come."
