The national debate champion fell into the hands of three New York prison inmates in the recently concluded friendly match.
In 2014, the Harvard debate team was crowned as world's best. The inmates, however, has been making their name in the debate scene after beating teams from U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and University of Vermont.
The event took place at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison, wherein inmates can take courses that are taught by the faculty of nearby Bard College. Moreover, they have formed a popular debate club and invited the champion debate team and the Ivy League undergraduates for a friendly competition.
The Bard Faculty, however, is not surprised by the success of the inmates. Max Kenner, executive director of the Bard Prison Initiative, said, "Students in the prison are held to the exact same standards, levels of rigor and expectation as students on Bard's main campus."
"There are few teams we are prouder of having lost a debate to than the phenomenally intelligent and articulate team we faced this weekend. And we are incredibly thankful to Bard and the Eastern New York Correctional Facility for the work they do and for organizing this event," the Harvard debate team posted on their Facebook page.
The inmates had to defend that public schools should be allowed to turn away students whose parents entered the U.S. illegally. The inmates came out victorious after bringing up arguments that weren't considered by the Harvard team.
In the New York Correctional Facility, about 15% of the all-male inmates are enrolled with Bard. While studying, they make use of the materials given by the Bard Faculty since internet isn't allowed. Graduates, according to Kenner, have continued their studies at Yale and Columbia universities.
What do you think of the victory of New York inmates over the world's best Harvard debate team?
