A team from ASU came in first and a UA team second in the inaugural Regentsβ Cup, a debate-style event in which students from the stateβs three public universities discussed freedom of speech and competed for scholarships.
The Saturday event was hosted by the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing body of Arizonaβs public university system, and included two teams each from the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. Team members participated in rounds of civil dialogue, solutions, persuasive storytelling and Oxford-style debate, sharing true stories from personal experiences.
Free speech has been a hot topic issue on university campuses over the last several years.
βOur universities are places where freedom of expression is encouraged as students develop critical thinking skills through exposure to opposing points of view. The Regentsβ Cup embodies and celebrates civil discourse, as well as a historic tradition of debate on college campuses,β said Regent Karrin Taylor Robson, who envisioned the competition. The students were selected through an application process.
After engaging in an all-day competition, Arizona State University students Valielza OβKeefe and Joshua Pardhe came in first place and each received a $16,600 scholarship. In second place were University of Arizona students Vincent Jasso and Finley Dutton-Reid, who each received a $12,450 scholarship.
In addition, third-place winners, which were given to both an ASU and UA team, received scholarships in the amount of $6,225 and each of the remaining student competitors were awarded a $500 scholarship.
For Makayla Thompson, who is a junior majoring in political science and communication at ASU, this was an opportunity to facilitate a larger conversation about free speech, not just on college campuses, but around the country.
βI think a lot of current conversations, not just with students, but nationwide, on the news and with our politicians, tend to be very polarized and often turn to stonewalling and name calling. They donβt allow us to really talk about the policies and issues that are at the core of our society,β she said. βAnd I think itβs important for students to be engaging this type of work, because we are the future of this country, and we need people to be learning those skills, so that we can be a better model not just for younger generations, but for the rest of the world.β
Several of the students who competed in the Regentsβ Cup said they rely on scholarships to pay for their tuition, which was one of the reasons they decided to compete.
βI come from a very low-income background,β said Jasso, who is a junior studying political science and public management and policy at the UA. βMy mother is disabled, so she doesnβt work. She relies on Social Security and lives in government subsidized housing. And so really the only reason why Iβm able to come to the University of Arizona and be able to attend school and not worry about how Iβm going to get food or where Iβm going to live is primarily because of scholarships.β
ABOR is hoping the Regentsβ Cup will continue annually.
