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Minnesota Urban Debater Wins Bush Institute Economic Debate Tournament
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Secretary Margaret Spellings, Lillie Ouellette-Howitz and President George W. Bush. Photo by Lisa Trenary/Grant Miller Photography
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Lillie
Oullette-Howitz of the Minnesota Urban Debate League was crowned
champion and top speaker at the second annual economic debate national
championship at the George W. Bush Presidential Center held October
19-20, 2013. Debating Lillie in the final round was runner-up Hope
Merens, from the Milwaukee Debate League.
In
2012, the Bush Institute launched a national presidential economic
debate program for high school students. NAUDL has partnered with the
Bush Institute to bring this important national level competition
to urban debate leagues. Earlier this fall, the Institute underwrote
four regional qualifying tournaments for urban debate leagues in
Baltimore, Dallas, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. Forty-eight qualifying
urban debaters and their coaches traveled to Dallas, TX to participate
in the national competition.
"We
were thrilled at the friendship of coaches who brought debaters, and
thrilled at the quality of the debaters," said Amity Shlaes, Director of
the Institute's 4% Growth Project. "Without coaches, schools, and
NAUDL, this never would have happened. The debaters themselves turned
into experts within hours, mastering a difficult topic offered to them
impromptu -- the privatization of Pemex. No energy attorney or finance
minister could do better than they did."
In
addition to winning the final round, debaters from urban debate leagues
dominated the top ten speaker rankings, with six of the ten spots going
to debaters from Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Baltimore.
Debaters reaching the elimination rounds received a total of $20,000 in scholarships.
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