When
Where
The UA Debate Series is made up of competition-winning student interns who strive to connect the college to the community through debate and discourse. All attendees of the following debate can participate by asking questions and contributing to the conversation about our topics, along with voting for the victor, who wins based off of changing the most minds of audience members. We encourage a diverse mix of students, staff, faculty, and community members to participate in the Q&A portion of our Oxford Style debate.
Resolved: Prisoners should be given access to a college education during incarceration. AND For-profit prisons should be banned.
In a two-part event, we will be discussing both whether prisoners should be given access to a college education during incarceration, and whether for-profit prisons should be banned. Many prisoners have a difficult time adjusting to life after serving time, and a college education may help them through that adjustment. Because a vast majority of prisoners come from low-income areas, education may not have been a viable possibility, so should our prisons pick up the slack? This leads to the prison industrial complex and the issue of for-profit prisons. The question here is whether the a profit motive should be included in the justice system at all. In addition, the ban of for-profit prisons would force the system to take a look at the racial disparities in the system, making it more fair and just. The prison system in itself has many issues and forcing everyone to ask themselves these questions may serve to eradicate the problem.