More than 50 new debaters attended their first debate tournament on September 28th. Northwestern high school hosted the first BUDL tournament for the fourth year running, and it was a great success. Students from sixteen high schools competed. While Walbrook came away with top overall school, a number of younger teams also made their mark. Carver started out the year with a powerful second place finish. The battle for top team and speaker in each division was fierce. Teams were trying out their new arguments and strategies for the first time. Summer debate institutes helped teams anticipate some of the new arguments, but there were plenty of surprises. The day ended as usual with pizza and a high energy awards assembly.

Numerous BUDL graduates came to help judge, including such favorites as: Renard Whitfield and Devan Perry from Frederick Douglass, Serina Mark from Harbor City, Shawntia Diggs and Cedrick Bradley from Forest Park, Trinya Smith and Alex Sivels from Northwestern, and Jared Jackson and the Johnson twins from Walbrook.

Reviews of the 24th BUDL tournament were favorable. Ken Broda Bahm, professor at Towson University, remarked that the varsity division had come “a long way” and described the JV division as “Just Vicious.” Beth Skinner, director of debate at Towson University, noted that students are taking more ownership of the BUDL: “It goes beyond the BUDL man award,” said Mrs. Skinner, “The debaters are becoming more involved in issues like league policies, tournament administration, and judging standards. I’m glad to see kids taking the initiative.”

New debaters got back to the busses strategizing about how to win the second BUDL tournament. Many veteran debaters are busy gearing up for the first Catholic Forensic League tournament on October 5th. With all the new debaters, and more on the way, the “mental health season” looks to be quite impressive!