Greenwich High School Students Win Top Prize At Ivy League Debate

Information via Greenwich Public Schools

GREENWICH, CT — Greenwich Public Schools announced this week two Greenwich High School sophomores, Ambika Grover and Arjun Kishore, recently took home the top prize at the Ivy League Invitational Parliamentary Debate at Columbia University, defeating 90 other teams in the process.

According to a news release, both students also won an individual Speaker Award; Ambika placed third and Arjun placed 55th out of 182 debaters.

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Greenwich High School debate coach Aaron Johnson said Arjun and Ambika have "flourished" in the national parliamentary debate circuit during the coronavirus crisis while also participating in multiple statewide competitions.

"Their leadership has brought more students to the GHS debate club and increased interest in different debate formats," Johnson said in a news release. "Their leadership is highly valued within the club and I am confident that they will remain on top of the national leaderboard."

Over the course of two long days of virtual competition held Feb. 20-21, Ambika and Arjun emerged as the winners; their accomplishments earned them entrance into the National Tournament of Champions in April, hosted by the University of Kentucky.

"To come in first in the Ivy League Parliamentary Debate Championships at Columbia was an absolutely incredible experience," Ambika said in a news release. "After the preliminary day of the competition, we were so excited to have a record of 5-0 and to advance to Octofinals– we never imagined that we could go on to win the three elimination rounds and grand finals on Sunday. It was definitely a challenging and fun experience, as we ended up debating in nine rounds that were 1.5 hours each. Arjun is a great partner, and we are so happy that we were able to win this for GHS. Despite the virtual setting, debate opportunities have been plentiful and I'm so grateful we've had the chance to compete."

Arjun noted the experience was "bittersweet."

"I was elated to win a huge competition like this," Arjun said, "but I also wished that it could have been in person and was wistful of the old debate experience."