January 26, 2012
The
St. John’s University Debate Society has won the first annual
Empire Debates tournament hosted by The King’s College in New York
City.
Nipun Mahajan and Kamya Chandra debated
against teams from Brandeis and Yale in the final round on the
motion: “This house believes that a future Department of Justice
should prosecute Obama administration officials for illegal drone
strikes.”
They also debated against their colleagues
Timothy Barr and Nelson Kezoh in the final round, who were the
runners up in that debate. Both St. John’s University teams
defended opposite sides on the motion.
The tournament consisted of 48 teams from
Yale, Brandeis, the University of Vermont, Cornell University,
Patrick Henry College, Grove City College, and the University of
Rochester.
In addition to the previously mentioned two teams, St. John’s
University was also represented by another team of Misbah Hyder and
Catarina Goncalves. They debated the motion: “This house supports
Ron Paul for President of the United States.”
Also representing St. John’s at the tournament
were students Tong Tong Zhu, Josh Barnett, Alex Rella, Shivika
Naveen, Frank Zhao, Shama Ams, and Elkhansaa Farhane.
Any students or other members of the St.
John’s University community who wish to get involved in the open
and co-curricular Debate Society should contact Dr. Stephen Llano
at 718.990.5606 or by email at llanos@stjohns.edu