UA Debate Series
The UA Debate Series is dedicated to elevating public discourse through respectful, rhetorically-sound, and competitive – at times voracious – debate.
About Us
Welcome to the University of Arizona's Award-winning Debate Series! The UA Debate Series is a series of public forums dedicated to elevating our national discourse. Each semester, campus faculty, public officials, community leaders, and students engage in a series of Oxford-style debates on matters of public interest. Members of the University and greater Tucson community are welcome to attend our forums, ask pointed questions, and vote on the winners!
The UA Debate Series proudly boasts a robust faculty-student collaboration, with a staff of dedicated student interns in the areas of education, outreach, research, finance, promotion, and events planning. Interns travel free of cost around the country to compete in national tournaments, and serve the Tucson community through our after school program for at-risk youth.
Mission statement
The UA Debate Series is envisioned to engage Arizona's public university students in civil discourse. We honor participants for articulating dramatically different points of view in an environment where combatants can remain friends. It should be our goal to graduate well-educated human beings capable of resolving differences that exist in a democracy in an environment of civil discourse rather than force. Our campuses should provide an opportunity for people to say foolish things in a process that safely allows for change, growth, and correction. It is through such a process that one will come to say smarter things – which of course is the process we call education.
The Regents' Cup
February 25th, 2023 - The Regents' Cup is a state-wide tournament among Arizona's three sister schools: University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. Each academic year, students compete in a day-long public forum engaging in civilized discourse. Participants receive scholarship funds, and finalists will receive large scholarship stipends. The school with the highest point tally will take home the annual Regents' Cup Trophy.
Contact Ted McLoof or Diana Leonard for any questions.
UA Debate Series Topics
All podcasts are livestreamed on Facebook Live at 7:00pm.
Sept. 20th
College Tuition & Debt Relief
Oct. 18th
Critical Race Theory in the History Classroom
Nov. 15th
Book Banning
Featured Debates
University Debate- Topic: Free College
Our experienced interns take on the affirmative and negative of the resolution: College Should Not be Free.
University Debate- Topic: Prisons Are Failing
In this double-header debate, interns debate the state of America's prison system, including for-profit prisons, overcrowding, and the prison industrial complex.
The Inaugural Regents' Cup Final | The University of Arizona and The Board of Regents Cup
On November 16th, 2019, we hosted Arizona State and Northern Arizona University for a day-long competition, judged by state legislators. The final round was between University of Arizona and Arizona State, debating the resolution: Controversial Speakers Should be Banned from Campus.
University Debate- Topic: Presidential Debate
Speakers in this debate take on the personas of primary candidates, arguing the topics of health care, foreign policy, the environment, and the economy. Audience members registered to vote on-site after the event.