AEI Policy Debate

Reported by Bailey Tanner Timmons

A policy debate, sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and George Fox University (GFU), will be held on Nov. 3 on the GFU campus. Students will be given the chance to demonstrate their political knowledge and communication skills to win a $500 cash prize.

The purpose of the debate is to increase political involvement among students through competition and academic articulation, while challenging participants to think from different perspectives at a time of great political polarity.

“The whole purpose of AEI is to bring students to the table and talk about current controversial topics. I just want to give students the ability to speak their mind in an academic environment,” said the GFU’s AEI Executive Council Chair, Tanner Aliff.

AEI, a political think-tank located in Washington D.C., has provided all necessary funds to successfully host the event. Local businesses have provided gift baskets to be raffled off as prizes throughout the day.

A debate of this nature has never been held at GFU, so students do not know what to expect. The debate will be open to all students, and those who have never debated formally will have equal opportunity to succeed as individuals actively involved in debate. A Google sign-up sheet will be available six weeks prior to the event for teams to reserve a spot in the debate.

There will be three rounds, in which two teams of four will debate one another, in public forum style, and a judge will use a ballot to decide which team won the debate. After three rounds, there will be a final debate between the two top-scoring teams. The winning team will be decided by three judges and receives the cash prize.

Each team will be given four hours to prep their arguments on each presented topic. Individuals who have experience in public policy and debate will be available to advise each team.

Every debate will be judged by a highly experienced professor, hand-picked for their academic specialty. There will be professors who teach Communication, Politics, International Studies, Economics, Journalism, Sociology, History, and Business.

The final debate will be held in Hoover 105 at 7 p.m. All community members and students are invited to watch.