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| Debate Travel Ban |
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PSU’s debate team may be glowing after a string of recent victories within the Pacific Northwest, but for now it appears they’re stuck stateside.
Back in August, the PSU debate team was told that they (and a number of other student groups) could no longer travel internationally. The reason? The university considered it a liability, as the school’s lawyers would be unable to assist any students in a foreign country who got into trouble and wound up in a Gulag. “SALP was informed by our university Dean of Students, and risk management officers and executives at the university, that they could no longer allow student groups to travel internationally,” said PSU debate coach Chris Richter. “The [style of debate] we do is an international format, and we are incredibly successful at it,” continued Richter. “Not being able to attend [the World Universities Debating Championship] is very frustrating. It’s like qualifying for the Super Bowl or the World Series, and not being able to go...It’s kind of an artificial barrier to our success.” The debate team had originally intended to attend the WUDC this year, which was held in Turkey in December, and included top teams from around the globe. After the PSU team paid the $700 deposit required to attend, SALP informed student groups of the international travel ban, and the team lost their deposit as well as their chance to compete. Several debate team members found themselves disappointed with the university’s decision. “For me, it seems like it kind of limits the idea of education, especially when we have study abroad programs,” said sophomore debate member Stephanie Stanley. “We’re not encouraging [international travel] in other avenues, such as debate, where you actually get benefits like the ability to argue and to think critically about policy issues.” Although the team missed their chance to attend the tournament held in Turkey, Richter remains hopeful that the university will be able to sort everything out by next year. “They have the best of intentions, that they want this to happen... [It] has to go through so many groups and so many people, it just kind of loses momentum,” said Richter. “We’re hoping that there will be something done. It’s really out of our hands.” For now, the future of international travel for any PSU student groups remains uncertain. International restrictions aside, PSU students continue to travel throughout the area for debate competitions. So far, PSU teams have won at four of the six tournaments they’ve attended this year, most recently in January at Northwest University in Kirkland, WA.  |
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