Tag Archives: Great Debate

Great Debate Week Coming to SPC: Students & Faculty Encouraged to Participate

Preparations for the third annual Great Debate competition are under way at five St. Petersburg College campuses. This is a competitive academic event that invites students to engage in debate of topical issues outside the classroom. By promoting critical thinking, effective communication, independent research and teamwork, the Great Debate fulfills three of the college’s Strategic Priorities: The Student Success Initiative, Out-of-Class Learning & Experiential Initiative, and College Experience Initiative.

Students who volunteer for the competition are randomly paired to debate the pro or con viewpoint of an assigned issue, with the top two debaters at each campus advancing to the finals and a chance to win up to $1,000 worth of prizes.

Great Debate Coordinators at each of the campuses have agreed on the times, locations and topic for the preliminary competition, which will be held during Student Activity Periods during the week of Oct. 10th. They have also reached out to faculty in the Humanities to encourage students to be part of the debate competition, either incorporated into coursework or offered as extra-credit opportunities. At least 10 students are needed to complete five debate pairs for each campus.

Faculty members are encouraged to identify qualified students to join this challenging out-of-classroom experience and to incorporate the research and debate techniques into their syllabi. They should contact their campus coordinators to recommend student volunteers or to incorporate a Great Debate segment into coursework.

The campus coordinators and dates/times/topics on each campus are:
St. Petersburg Gibbs: Legalizing Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Medical Conditions
October 10, 12:30-2:00 p.m., SS Lobby
Coordinator: Maribeth Beekman

Downtown/Midtown: Body-Worn Video Cameras Mandatory for Law Enforcement Officers
October 11, 12:30-1:30 p.m., American Stage Theater, 2nd Floor Lobby
Coordinator: Frank Jurkovic

Clearwater: Body-Worn Video Cameras Mandatory for Law Enforcement Officers
October 12, 12:30-2:00 p.m., ES 104
Coordinator: Dr. Michael Culligan

Seminole: Devise a Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Residents with No Criminal Record
October 12, 12:30-2:00 p.m., Digitorium (UP 160)
Coordinator: Dr. Bledar Prifti

Tarpon Springs: Who Is Best Qualified to Be President: Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?
October 12, 12:30-1:30 p.m., FA 132
Coordinators: Anthony Nappi

The top two debaters from each of the competitions will go on to the finals on November 15th from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. in the Seminole Campus Digitorium. Their topic: Suppression of Free Speech Has Gone Too Far, Especially on College Campuses. A total of $2,450 in prizes will be awarded. First-place winner will receive a $500 gift card and an IPad mini; second place debater will receive $500, third place $250, and so forth. To learn more or to view previous Great Debate competitions, please visit the event page.

David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College

Free Speech Is Focus of Great Debate Finals Competition

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Ten SPC students will be brushing up on the First Amendment over the next three weeks to become experts on the free speech clause of that amendment. That’s because they finished at or near the top In the preliminary competition of the Great Debate last week at SPC, qualifying them for the finals next month where free speech is the topic.

Some 34 students participated in the preliminary competition held at St. Petersburg Gibbs, Downtown/Midtown, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater and Seminole campuses. The debates drew a total attendance of more than 200, including fellow students and relatives of the debaters.

On Nov. 15 at the Seminole campus, first- and second-place finishers from each campus will face off in five eight-minute rounds debating the topic, Suppression of Free Speech Has Gone Too Far, Especially on College Campuses. It will be from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. in the Digitorium at Seminole, 9200 113th St. N.

Serving as judges will be Dr. Joe Leopold, Dean of Communication; Dr. Susan Demers, Dean of the College of Policy, Ethics and Legal Studies, and Dr. Joseph Smiley, Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The Great Debate is sponsored by the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and presented in partnership with the Student Life and Leadership council and implemented by recruitment and coaching teams on each of the five campuses. Now in its third year since being revived after a two-year hiatus, the Great Debate fulfills three of the college’s Strategic Initiatives: Student Success, College Experience, and Out-of-Classroom Learning.

And it provides significant monetary incentives for students to risk stage fright and take on extra research/writing obligations, not to mention after-hours rehearsals. First place winner takes home a $500 gift card to Barnes & Noble along with an iPad mini. Second place receives a $500 gift card, third $250, and so on, with each competitor receiving something.

Congrats to the 2016 Great Debate Preliminary Competition Week Finalists:

St. Pete/Gibbs Campus
Topic: Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Medical Conditions. Vote for or Vote Against?
Campus Coordinator: Maribeth Beekman
• First Place: Max Johnson
• Second Place: Jade Jackson

Downtown/Midtown Centers
Topic: Body-Worn Video Cameras Should Be Mandatory for Police Officers. Agree or Disagree?
Campus Coordinator: Frank Jurkovic
• First Place: Michael Jones
• Second Place: William Triplett

Clearwater Campus
Topic: Body-Worn Video Cameras Should Be Mandatory for Police Officers. Agree or Disagree?
Campus Coordinator: Dr. Michael Culligan
• First Place: Ashana Patterson
• Second Place: Alexis Deveaux

Seminole Campus
Topic: Congress should devise a path to citizenship for undocumented residents with no criminal record. Agree or Disagree?
Campus Coordinator: Dr. Bledar Prifti
• First Place: Aiden Sherman
• Second Place: Kristina Keller

Tarpon Springs
Topic: Who Is Best Qualified to Be Our Next President, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?
Campus Coordinator: Anthony Nappi
• First Place: Christina Chatfield
• Second Place: Justin Ferrell

For photos and videos from the 2016 Great Debate Preliminary Competition week and for more information on the Final Competition, please visit the event page.

David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College
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Top Debater Decided Nov. 15 at Seminole

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The top debater at St. Petersburg College will be decided next Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the final competition of the 2016 Great Debate. It will be held from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the Seminole Campus Digitorium (UP-160), 9200 113^th St. N.

Ten finalists from the preliminary competition held at five SPC campuses the week of Oct. 10 will compete for over $2,400 worth of prizes, with the winner taking home a $500 gift card and an iPad mini. Given three-minute presentations and one-minute rebuttals each, they will debate the pros and cons of this statement: Suppression of Free Speech Has Gone Too Far, Especially on College Campuses. The positions they take will be assigned randomly just before the debate, so each student must be prepared to argue both sides of the statement.

About the Great Debate

The Great Debate is a competitive academic event that invites students at SPC’s five primary learning centers to engage in debate of topical issues outside the classroom. The debate allows the student debaters to develop their communication skills on stage, before an audience of peers and faculty, practicing the elements that make for effective public speaking.

The Great Debate, sponsored by SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and the Student Life and Leadership Council, promotes critical thinking, effective communication, independent research and teamwork. In the process, it also promotes civic engagement and builds esprit de corps.

For students who attend, it presents an opportunity to be inspired by debate, to gain knowledge about the policy issues assigned, and to evaluate both sides of an issue. And for the student body as a whole, competitive events among campuses enhance the college experience by fostering friendly rivalry and building student connections within the greater SPC community.

The Judges

Serving as judges of the finals will be Dr. Joe Leopold, Dean of Communications; Dr. Susan Demers, Dean of the College of Public Policy and Legal Studies, and Dr. Joseph Smiley, Dean of Social and Behavioral Science.

Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend the debate competition and cheer their campus’ champion debater to victory.

The Finalists

First- and second-place winners representing the five campuses are:

Clearwater: Ashana Patterson and Alexis Deveaux.