Georgetown students win QatarDebate national championship

Georgetown University in Qatar ( GU-Q) has won the national debate championship conducted by QatarDebate Centre, with team members also receiving best speaker medals for their performance.The Qatar Universities Debating League is open to students across Qatar, and teams from four universities made it to the final rounds of the competition.The champions were decided after a two-day intensive tournament, with GU-Q students Yoonsuk Choi (SFS’18) and Fatima Farooqui (SFS’21) competing against students from Qatar University, Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar and Carnegie Melon University in Qatar to win the championship title.Choi has been debating since high school and represented his country in championships.In addition to the team win, the students also placed in the top ten of the individual speaker ranks, with Choi and Farooqui taking second and sixth place in the overall league rankings and sixth and seventh in the nationals ranking respectively.Farooqui’s achievement was a milestone for the GU-Q Debating Union, as she became the only first year student to win a university-level nationals tournament in the club’s history.The tournament was challenging, but Farooqui explained that she enjoyed the opportunity to argue her case against opponents.Over the course of the league, students debated complex topics ranging from political challenges and current affairs to philosophical and ethical conundrums.The annual competition sees students compete in four one-day sessions during the academic year, in addition to the grand final to decide the league and national winners.