On February 10th, twelve members of the Yeshiva Debate Society traveled to Ithaca, New York to participate in Cornell's fifth annual debate competition. Although the opposition -- which included entrants from Cornell, Yale, Queens, Osborne, The New School, and Rockland -- posed quite a challenge to the Yeshiva debaters, Yeshiva emerged victorious after a grueling four rounds, returning to the team's former glory first found in Cornell four year ago, where they claimed top prizes in every category.

Since the tournament was scheduled for Sunday morning, the debaters arrived in Cornell on Friday and spent shabbos with a welcoming group of Jewish Cornell students at the university's official Young Israel House. As they have done for the past four years, the members of the Young Israel House opened their doors and provided sleeping and eating accommodations for the team members. Building on a close relationship established by their predecessors, Team Captain Hillel Deutsch and the debaters enjoyed a relaxing shabbos.

At Sunday's tournament, the top three debaters, and seven of the top ten, were members of the Yeshiva team. Deutsch took top honors for a perfect overall record of 4-0 and for 89 out of 90 total speaker points, which he secured after defeating fellow Yeshiva debater and team member Avi Holczer in a thrilling championship round.

Holczer, like Deutsch, had gone undefeated for the first three rounds, "a sensational accomplishment," according to a fellow teammate, for the first-time debater. Deutsch dedicated his victory to past Yeshiva Debate Society Presidents Greg Samuels and Michelle Fogel, who were unable to attend the tournament on account of their engagement the night before.

Coming in a close third was another 3-0 Yeshiva debating rookie, Miriam Bardi. Her streak marked the first time in Stern College recorded history that a first-time debater had gone undefeated.

Yeshiva debater Alec Fisch finished tied for fifth overall and second in speaker points, Assistant Captain Russ Shulkes took sixth place overall and fourth in speaker points, while team members Alan Goldsmith and Zechariah Mehler won eighth and ninth place, respectively. Overall, Yeshiva dominated the competition with an incredible 25-11 overall record.

What made the victory even more thrilling for team members was that it was the first time many of them had formally debated in college. "Ten of the twelve debaters were newcomers to collegiate debate, participating in their first tournament," one student pointed out. "This made the success even more impressive." The Debate Society is on the verge of returning to its former glory, reestablishing itself on the top of the college-based Public Forum Debate League.

The Debate Society urges any students interested in joining the team to approach a team member. The society has always enjoyed an open membership policy, not requiring any debating experience. "Besides the skills gained and awards earned, the team has very high social benefits," one team member jokingly remarked, referring to the recent engagement of past presidents Samuels and Fogel and the marriage of cofounders and past presidents Pinky Shapiro and Aura Brandwein.