African American Debaters Make History

LogoFresnoStateSealNadia Lewis and Jamila Ahmed, African American students at Fresno State University in California, placed first and second at the recent Henry Clay Invitational Debates held at the University of Kentucky. They were the first African American women to earn the top honors in the 42-year history of the competition. Shanara Reid-Brinkley, director of debate at the University of Pittsburgh, told the Fresno State Collegian, “I do believe it is the first time in the history of national debate competition that two African American women have won the top two speakers at any national tournament.”

The Henry Clay Invitational Debates were established in 1971. It is one of the largest varsity debate competitions on U.S. policy issues. The Fresno State team competed against 286 speakers from 30 colleges and universities.

The topic for this year’s debate was: “The U.S. Federal Government should substantially increase statutory and/or judicial restrictions on the war powers authority of the president of the United States in one or more of the following areas: cyber operations, indefinite detention, targeted killing such as drones, and deploying the armed forces into hostile places.”

Related Articles

1 COMMENT

  1. Yes sisters, the world is just beginning to understand the depth of knowledge, communication, understanding and ability that both of you possess.

    Perhaps, both of you need to pursue careers in the
    U. S. State Department/ and or United Nations and negotiate resolutions to many of the global roadblocks that keep the nations of the world in disagreement.

    Change is HERE!!!

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

New Online Library for the Study of Philanthropy and Black Churches

The new Philanthropy and the Black Church digital collection of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving, an organization founded by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, and the Center for the Church and the Black Experience at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, aims to provide resources for Black churches and other philanthropic institutions to partner together on strategic initiatives.

Online Articles That May Be of Interest to JBHE Readers

Each week, JBHE will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Establishes New Research Center to Address Segregation in Local Area

The new Center for Equity Practice and Planning Justice at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee aims to study the history of racial segregation in the local area and advance racially equitable practices in urban planning.

Featured Jobs