We met with a few people who showed interest in debate. We also discussed some ground rules, which we will post here as an update. This was a constructive meeting as we made sure to go over some potential topics, debating styles, structure of the meetings, having more time and a second meeting day, and even competition questions were brought up.
Notes From The Meeting
Disclaimer: We are still forming the rules, these notes were suggestions from the group.
Rules
Suggestions for ways to keep the group lighthearted even with hard topics:
- Cooldown at end of the meeting
- Funny debates, fun debates
- Pasta Shapes
- Movies and Shows
- Debate Games (No “likes” or verbal fillers or you are out, last in wins)
- Funny debates, fun debates
- Respect Your Peers Always
- What happens in debate stays in debate: No getting angry with a peer outside of debate for a stance or motion they had to cover that you may have disagreed with. Any actions will result in a report.
- No Harsh Language
- No Racism, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Sexism, or any Prejudice of any type allowed.
- Hard topics will be discussed, remain courteous.
- Snacks (This is Isaac’s Suggestion)
Topics To Discuss:
- Immigration
- War On Gaza
- Charlie Kirk Topics
- Religion
- Abortion Rights
- Health Policy
- Reproductive Rights
- Can You Give Blood To Jehovah’s Witnesses If They Are In Dire Need?
- HIPPAA Rights
- Should Nurses Be On Tik Tok?
- Ethics of Hospital Staff
- Teachers on Tik Tok?
- Family Vloggers
- Boston Public School System
- Jumpstart
- Climate Change
- Environmental Law
- Fearmongering Environmental changes
- Greenwashing
- Bill of Rights
- Gun Reform
- Structure of Government
- Construction On Campus
- How Many Students In Class?
When it comes to debate, we felt as a group that all topics should be open to discussion. If you have any topics you would like to not discuss, please contact leadership here and let us know:)
Have some decorum, use your best judgement when it comes to debate topics! If someone is uncomfortable with a topic, they may not always tell you. This is why you have to use your best judgement. Please remain respectful at all times.
Ideas For Meeting Structure
- Polls about topics weekly sent through Geneva so that people can prepare
- Split into group of two and work as a group on topic to ease first jitters of public speaking
- Parliamentary Debate? What style will we use? Public Forum? These are questions we will have to discuss, and may change how we let you know topics (as some debate styles require the peers to learn the topic a few minutes before the debate. I know it sounds stressful, but you will be great. Trust me)
- Go Over Everything Next Meeting
- This would be the October 24th meeting, where we will hopefully have more attendees and discuss structure.
EVERYONE JOIN GENEVA ASAP We will send updates here more frequently.
Recap
All in all it was a meeting that discussed how we will operate. We had experienced debaters and those that are new to debate. We had students from all majors, and it was exciting! Come join us at our next one. Check out our calendar below!
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