Worlds Fall Semester Success

The Cornell Worlds Team had great showings in many arenas during the Fall 2021 semester. Competing in the British Parliamentary format of Debate, students repeatedly broke to quarter and semifinals. The team attended tournaments in the United States and abroad, with noted success in domestic and international tournaments. 

In the 2021 Western IV, two debaters in their first ever collegiate tournament won Novice Finals in a field of over 40 teams. They were also recognized as Top New Debater and 8th Best New Debater. 3 debater teams and 2 judges represented Cornell at the Hart House IV, where one team broke to quarterfinals out of roughly 100 teams. A Cornell team reached the quarterfinals of the Doxbridge 5 (Durham+Oxford+Cambridge) tournament and had two novices make it to the semifinals of the English as a Second Language (ESL) category at that tournament (at a highly competitive tournament with 77 teams from across the world!). At the Durham IV tournament, a Cornell Team appeared in the grand final, receiving the 3rd and 5th best speaker awards. Then at the Yale IV tournament, a Cornell team reached the semifinals in a field of 140 teams, which is Cornell's best performance at the tournament since 2017. Finally, at the North American BP Novice Championship (which was run in part by World’s captain Meg Kandarpa), two novice Cornell teams reached the semifinals, one of which advanced to the final round. Cornell was awarded 4 of the top ten ESL speaker awards, as well as 7th and 8th in the open category.

Throughout the season, the team also shone in specialized categories. Experienced debaters on the team taught program novices, led by team captains. Worlds members repeatedly broke as judges, and Meg Kandarpa received the Steven Penner award for outstanding contributions to the debate community. In addition to being recognized for ESL debaters, the team sent competitors to a European women and gender minorities tournament in the middle of the semester.

After a remarkable fall, the team is now preparing for North American Championships and to host the Novice National Championship tournament in early February.