Hopkins Debate Team Earns Honors at NYPDL and Yale Tournaments

Hopkins students delivered strong performances at two major spring debate tournaments: the Yale Osterweis Tournament held on April 13 and the New York Parliamentary Debate League ( NYPDL) April Invitational on April 26.

While all competitors represented Hopkins at NYPDL, Chloe W. ’26 and Marguerite P. ’28 competed at the Yale Osterweis Tournament as members of Westfield Academy, an extracurricular community that offers debate classes to students. Hosted on Yale’s campus in New Haven, the tournament recognized Chloe as the 7th place varsity speaker, placing her in the top ten among all varsity participants. Marguerite was a novice finalist and received both a team and speaker award.

At NYPDL, a student-run debate league focused on college-level Parliamentary Debate and featuring over 100 competitors from across the Northeast, the team of Alyson H. ’26 and Amber Z. ’28 advanced to the varsity octofinals, placing among the top 16 teams in the division. Amber also earned the honor of 5th place novice speaker and Emilia A. ’26 ranked among the top 25 varsity speakers based on her individual scores.

Debate teams consist of two students, but speaker awards are earned individually based on performance across multiple rounds.

According to Chloe, the debate team started out small, but through extra meetings, structured lesson plans, and collaboration with Student Council and Maroon Key, they were able to reorganize and strengthen their approach, which ultimately led to greater success in tournaments.

"I'm so proud of all the debaters this year; we've grown so much as a team!” said Chloe. “The team's growth means a lot more to me than my own achievements, and I'm so excited to see what next year brings,” she added.

Each year, the Hopkins Debate Team consists of 20 to 25 students who regularly compete in tournaments. 

Congratulations to all participants for their success!