Two students from WVU, including Women’s and Gender Studies major Brooke Modestita, qualified for the National Debate Tournament. They are the first two students to qualify from WVU’s Debate Team since 1986.
Modestita is a Boston, Massachusetts native who had years of experience in debate even before attending WVU. She debated throughout high school at the Kennedy Academy of Health Careers. She served as captain for three years.
Modestita believes the debate team is helping her to reach future goals. “It has also allowed me to network and meet many influential people from many different backgrounds that support me 100 percent of the way,” Modestita said.
The team actively debates and prepares throughout the year, traveling and competing across the country. The team meets twice a week to practice and discuss current events relative to future debates as well as studying teams they may compete against in the future.
At the National Debate Tournament, each team will discuss whether a national health insurance should be established in the United States and will be able to advocate for and against the topic. There are up to eight preliminary rounds per tournament, each lasting two hours, followed by elimination rounds that decide the winner of the tournament.