Nov 17, 2023 At 12:26 PM EDT
The holiday season provides us with an opportunity to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for and share that with the world. I am grateful for our incredible New York City Urban Debate League family. I first encountered this community nearly 10 years ago, when my own children participated in the NYCUDL's summer camp. Then rising third and sixth graders, they were excited to debate in a league that was fun, safe and filled with love. A decade later, it has been my honor to witness and steward the NYCUDL's incredible work as a parent, Board Member and Executive Director.
I am grateful to have seen my NYCUDL family grow. The League started in 2011 with a goal of getting just 100 students to debate. Last year, we served 3,100 young people who attend over 200 schools across all five boroughs of New York City. Over 80 percent of our students are students of color and over 80 percent come from schools where 50 percent of students or more qualify for free or reduced lunch. I am grateful for the many partners that helped open the doors for students of all levels to join the NYCUDL community. Our collaboration with NYC Public Schools—including Districts 7, 9, 15, 16, and the Literacy Collaborative—helped us to bring debate to underserved students across the city.
Our Open League invites any public school to participate in some of the NYCUDL's more competitive divisions. Students who thrive in debate and want to take their debate game to the most competitive level can join the NYCUDL Wake Forest Dream Team to be mentored by some of the nation's best collegiate debaters and compete nationally with the goal of debating in college with a scholarship. Our community now has an access point for students who seek to dip their toe in the debate waters and those who want to compete at the highest levels. Our hope, of course, is that once they try it, they will fall in love and work their way through our many programs and enjoy the benefits that come from each level of participation.
I am grateful for the ways the NYCUDL empowers our students to grow. To do this, we examine barriers to access at every level and work to dismantle them. Just as giving students sports equipment does not teach them the skills needed to play, simply removing tournament entry fees does not empower students to meaningfully participate in debate. Instead of providing opportunity without guidance, the NYCUDL creates a path that meets our students where they are and walks it with them.
We write topics about issues that affect our students so they can turn their passion into action. We provide weekly lesson plans with scaffolds and professional learning for teachers coaching debate. We hold tournaments that are competitive but also safe and fun, with trophies and lots of high fives and fist bumps. Of course, there are also t-shirts, ice cream sundaes, candy and the highly coveted stickers students collect at each of our events. I am grateful to see that the League, despite its incredible growth, still has the same warmth that drew my own children to debate a decade ago.
I am grateful that the NYCUDL sets students up for success after debate. While our students might focus on their competitive outcomes, we look past the wins and losses to focus on life outcomes. Rather than handing students pre-made arguments written by accomplished coaches, we teach them to develop their own by exercising their literacy, critical thinking and public speaking abilities. These skills are important as we raise our students to be tomorrow's changemakers, but they also help our students navigate their day-to-day lives right now. Our students learn research skills needed to write essays and excel academically, how to advocate for themselves and, perhaps most importantly, how to evaluate information and make important life decisions.
I am grateful that the NYCUDL has the opportunity to show students how they will use their debate skills as adults. From hosting tournaments to speaking to debaters, our partner organizations from our Board of Directors, Lawyers' Advisory Council and Executive and Finance Professionals' Advisory Council provide models and access to successful career paths. We are fortunate that so many of our students have had opportunities to spend a day at prestigious Manhattan law firms, to meet and be judged by distinguished members of the legal and finance community, and some have even had the opportunity to help ring the NASDAQ opening bell. As they are awed by these experiences, we remind them that the work they are putting in now will lead them to a future where these moments are part of their everyday life. I am grateful to lead an organization that is truly empowering students to become the next generation of diverse, informed and courageous leaders.
Over the course of the next month, you will directly hear how debate has impacted our community via a coach, a student and our Board Chair. I invite you to learn more about our NYCUDL community: Come judge at a tournament (no experience required, we will train you), join our Lawyers Advisory Council, Executives' and Finance Professionals' Council or our Young Professionals Network, or just get in touch and we will find a fit for you. I am so grateful for our NYCUDL Family: our students, coaches, volunteers, partners and supporters. It is truly a gift to be empowered everyday by so much love, positivity and possibility. In this season of giving, I invite you to share in our gift of an incredible community.
Please reach out to me at amisha@debate.nyc to join our family. We will be so very grateful to have you!
Amisha Mody Mehta has been involved with the New York City Urban Debate League in multiple capacities since 2014 and is humbled to lead the League as Executive Director. Amisha has a B.S. in Finance and International Business from the Stern School of Business at NYU, a J.D. from Columbia Law School and worked on Wall Street as a corporate lawyer. Amisha also serves on the Public Forum Committee for the Tournament of Champions, the Westfield Public Schools DE&I Community Advisory Committee and the Jain Center of New Jersey's Conflict Resolution Committee.
