Alpharetta High Debate Students Advance To International Final

ALPHARETTA, GA -- Students from Alpharetta High School are packing their bags for an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to compete as finalists in the 18th annual International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) global debate competition.

The team has advanced to the “Elite 8” round of the IPPF, a global debate contest sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University (NYU). Students are debating the topic “Resolved: U.S. abdication of international leadership creates dangerous global instability."

The IPPF Finals will take place on Saturday, April 27, at The Harold Pratt House in New York City. Alpharetta High School will be one of eight teams – representing schools from six U.S. states and India – competing for the right to be named the “IPPF World Champion” and a $10,000 grand prize.

“These students have earned an opportunity to compete in an advocacy forum unlike any other – the IPPF Finals,” William A. Brewer III, chairman of the Brewer Foundation and founder of the IPPF, said in a release. “They will now supplement months of written scholarship with oral advocacy in pursuit of the title of 2019 IPPF World Champion.”

The IPPF is the only competition that gives high school students from around the world the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. The debate competition was founded in 2001 by the Brewer Foundation to promote academic achievement and public advocacy.

This year, 165 teams – representing high schools in 15 countries and 25 U.S. states – submitted qualifying round essays on the topic. The essays were reviewed by a committee, which determined the top 64 teams based on the overall quality of each 2,800-word essay.

In November 2018, the “Round of 64” teams began a single-elimination, written debate competition. Each team was assigned a position (affirmative or negative) and then volleyed papers back and forth with another team via email for the next six weeks. A panel of judges reviewed the essays and selected the winning teams. The next two rounds also took place in written form.

The IPPF Finals give students the opportunity to participate in oral debates in front of some of the world’s foremost experts in debate, business, law and politics. This year, IPPF judges will include Brewer, NYU President Emeritus Dr. John Sexton, Council on Foreign Relations President Dr. Richard N. Haass and Dr. Ed Lee III, Senior Director of the Alben W. Barkley Forum for Debate Deliberation, and Dialogue. The winning team will take home the “Brewer Cup” and the $10,000 grand prize.

The “Elite 8” teams are:

• Alpharetta High School from Alpharetta, Georgia
• Delhi Public School from New Delhi, India
• Hunter College High School from New York, New York
• Jasper High School from Plano, Texas
• New Hope Academy: Torrance from Torrance, California
• Notre Dame High School from Sherman Oaks, California
• Peak to Peak Charter School from Lafayette, Colorado
• University School from Chagrin Falls, Ohio