National Debate Camps are where the best of the best from around the country build their skills in debate over the summer. Every summer, the students who go on to win the most prestigious and competitive national tournaments attend these institutions for weeks. Like the rest of the elite debate world, unfortunately, there are barriers to entry as these camps cost thousands of dollars to attend. The experience these camps provide, however, is extraordinary. High school students learn from professors and debate coaches from top universities. They live in college dorms and eat in dining halls. Students gain tremendous friendships, skills, and experiences that some don’t have access to until they’re in college and some never at all. These camps help our students not just learn to become successful debaters, they provide evidence to our students that they belong and can succeed in fast-paced, rigorous college environments.

This past summer, Boston Debate League sent a record 16 students to national debate camps. In previous summers, we had never sent more than 5 students to national camps. This validated our decision to focus on our middle school and high school Spanish programming in our own local camp. These 16 students attended camps at Harvard, University of Kentucky, University of Texas – Austin, Wake Forest, Dartmouth, and Georgetown. Here’s what one debater wrote about their experiences

“After camp, I have a better understanding of how to debate, and how debate relates to the real world.” – Somerville High student who attended University of Kentucky camp

“Before attending DDI, I had a considerable lack of foundation when it came to debate, especially in comparison to my peers and colleagues. Compared to before I attended DDI, my research and speaking abilities have increased substantially. Overall, my experience was great. The food was good, I made lots of friends and connections to debaters all over the globe, and the lectures were magnificent.” – Fenway HS student who attended Dartmouth Debate Institute

“I can’t even begin to describe how much I learned at UTNIF. I look back at before I attended and feel like there were so many holes so well filled by my time in Texas. I learned how to make a good case, how to extend arguments fully, how to flow and use that flow to win rounds, how to prepare blocks for speeches, how to use cross ex time valuably, how to use Word, how to research, I greatly improved any existing debate skill I had, and so so so much more. In other words, I became confident and excited to debate, especially on a larger scale.” – BLA student who attended University of Texas at Austin

“During my time at camp I learned how to articulate my arguments in a more organized manner while also improving my time management during speeches. During my time there I was also able to heavily improve on my card cutting skills, as well as my ability to use those cards to my advantage.” – Ruth Batson Academy student who attended Harvard debate camp

“I learned A LOT about K debate specifically surrounding anti-blackness and black femininity. I had a great time learning about Intellectual Property rights specifically surrounding concepts of ownership and creation. I ended up developing my AFF around empowering black ownership in a world in which black people are sites of experimentation and extraction.” – BLA student who attended RKS Workshops (4-week institute) at Wake Forest

Boston Debate League sincerely thanks the following partners who made this work possible. Women for Progress provided over $10,000 in grant funding that fully met the need for 10 young women attending national debate camps. National Association for Urban Debate Leagues also covered more than $6,000 in cost for a student to attend a 4-week camp. This work also would not have been possible without the generosity of the camps themselves, especially Harvard, Dartmouth, Wake Forest, and University of Kentucky, which all offered free or reduced need-based tuition to our debaters.