While most students were off enjoying their holiday break from class, others were busy arguing their way to world championships.
Joanna Nairn and Michael Kotrly are the passionate pair that won the World Universities Debating Championship held in Ireland this year, ending a two-year-long tour of debating tournaments around the world.
In their final debate, the pair argued against the resolution, “This house would abolish all laws prohibiting cruelty to animals.”
The Hart House Debates Society sent eight debaters and a judge to the Ireland championship, where they competed with universities from 32 countries.
Their success is not all that surprising when one considers their university’s pedigree-U of T won the first world championship held in 1981 in Scotland-and the significant experience of their team.
Most of the eight debaters had at least six years of debating experience, and several had already attended prior world championships. In addition, all four two-person U of T teams made it to the final rounds-something no other institution in the competition managed. Nairn can justifiably attribute their success to teamwork, as she and Kotrly are not only longtime team partners, but roommates.
“I think our teamwork is the thing that contributes to our success the most. We understand each other really well, and we bring different strengths to the team,” she said. Considering that debaters are only given 15 minutes to prepare for the topic, this history of cooperation no doubt helped them win their final bout of debates against the likes of the University of Chicago, Yale, and The Inner Temple (a British law school).
In addition to developing the art of persuasion together, the pair also share legal aspirations. Michael Kotrly is a third-year law student who offers free legal advice to transgendered people at a clinic, while Joanna Nairn is graduating this year and plans to begin her law studies in the fall.
With debating topics drawn at random, debating eloquently can be difficult.
“The big fear isn’t losing, it’s looking like you don’t know anything,” said Rory McKeown, one of the other U of T students who debated in Ireland. Judges placed a heavy emphasis on using examples, in addition to rhetorical virtuosity.
“The only preparation you can really do is keeping up to date on world events,” said Rahool Agarwar, another debater. Despite the fact that the topics are not known in advance, certain issues tend to be recurring such as major international issues-for example, the justifiability of armed humanitarian intervention.
In addition to U of T’s crew, numerous Canadian teams impressed judges at the competition with their broad skills.
“Canadian teams have been very good at deploying facts persuasively, something that not every team has quite mastered,” said Agarwar.
Every year, Hart House and other parts of the university fully fund the U of T delegation to the championship, allowing some of the best student speakers to brandish their rhetorical skill and see the world.
Though Nairn and Kotrly aren’t likely to debate again-it’s part of university debating protocol that nobody can win a title two years running-they both feel lucky to have been able to travel the world and hone their skills on Hart House’s dime.
