The Chaminade Debate team participated in the Peninsula Invitational over the weekend of January 12 at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. The Peninsula Invitational is one of the fastest growing tournaments on the West Coast, with 87 schools, 669 individuals, and five states represented.

This year, two teams from Chaminade competed in the varsity policy debate division, widely considered to be the tournament’s most competitive. Two Chaminade teams consisting of Dhruv Ahuja ’21 and Dylan Barsoumian ’21 (Chaminade AB) and Azadeh Hormozdiari ’21 and Ellya Kim ’22 (Chaminade HK) finished the tournament as co-champions. Such an accomplishment has not been achieved by Chaminade Debate in any division at any tournament since 2011.

The judges awarded all four Chaminade students “best speaker awards” for excellence in debating and research: Azadeh (2^nd), Dhruv (7^th), Ellya (12^th), and Dylan (18^th).

This year the team has been researching the merits of United States immigration policy. They have been debating the topic, “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce its restrictions on legal immigration to the United States.” 

Next, the team heads to the UNLV Golden Desert Debate Tournament, February 2-4, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.