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UBCDS and Competition
UBCDS at the Oxford IV 2023 in Oxford, UK - 2023
Competing at USC IV in Los Angeles, California - 2023
The UBCDS competes across Canada as well as internationally. While we subsidize our members’ flights to select tournaments, they are always welcome to represent us to any competition they chose to self-fund to. We belong to a Canadian debate circuit known as CUSID (Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate), but also attend tournaments in US and international circuits. Although most of our travels are to North American cities, the Society does fund our top debaters to the World University Debate Championships (WUDC), which is hosted by a different country each year, most recently: Thailand, Korea, Vietnam and Panama.
Funding to more competitive tournaments is allocated based on multiple factors, including contributions to the club, our AutoPoints system, and perceived competitiveness for less experienced members. The Points system ranks your past tournament performance, and funding is allocated based on applications and rankings per our written policies. For more information on tournament selections and funding, click here or contact the VP External.
UBCDS and Community
The UBCDS hopes to make accessible the unique combination of public speaking, quick thinking, and teamwork that our sport develops to anyone who wants to tap into it. We strive to create an impact in the community around us, both on and off campus.
On campus, our training sessions are open to all, so that anyone can drop in to learn a little bit about debate. Members are also encouraged to organize their own practice debates and engage in online discussion. Additionally, we visit classrooms to host free debate workshops for multiple programs, such as the for-credit Coordinated Science Program. This is in an effort to foster key public speaking skills in students of all faculties. We also host multiple campus events, including show debates and our Speaker Series, to promote better campus culture and create fun opportunities for all members of the UBC community.
Outside of campus, the UBCDS strives to have a positive influence on our community by fostering a love of debate in our youth. We host numerous tournaments at both High School and Elementary levels, and also volunteer to provide coaching resources for young debaters in the area. For more information on our High School Outreach programme, click here.
Our practice meetings are open to all UBC students
Members at Election Day 2024
Award-winners at our Junior High School Tournament
Drop in Anytime!
We meet once every week: Tuesdays at 6:30 pm in person in BUCH D217! Meetings are open to all, no matter your skill level and no matter how late in the year! We look forward to seeing you there!