Sacramento Urban Debate League (SUDL)

The Sacramento Urban Debate League (SUDL) provides policy debate education and competition for low-income students and students of color in the Sacramento metropolitan area. SUDL does so by creating debate teams in local public schools, training coaches, coaching students, and then traveling with students to compete at weekend tournaments. The research is clear: significant academic studies demonstrate the many benefits of policy debate and how it prepares students to be successful during and after high school. These benefits stem from the research, communication, creativity, collaboration, civic awareness, and critical thinking that debate demands from its participants. Studies demonstrate a significant rise in GPA and college enrollment rates for debaters when compared to their peers, a decrease of drop-out rates, and an increased readiness for 21st century careers. By facilitating student participation in debate, SUDL develops and enriches our community by creating generations of responsible, driven young adults. We are the only Sacramento organization that can, and does, create and fund high school policy debate programs.

WHAT IS URBAN DEBATE?
Debate is an academic activity that builds research and critical thinking skills in a competitive event. Each year high school debaters throughout the country debate a single complex policy question, or resolution, for an entire year. In 2018-2019, students will be debating "Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce its restrictions to legal immigration to the United States."

Coached by teachers and SUDL staff, debaters conduct extensive research on the resolution and develop arguments for and against it. Debaters hone their arguments in afterschool practices and compete at weekend tournaments. Two-person teams participate in a series of 75-minute debates and each team alternates sides, arguing for the resolution in one round and against it in the next.

Competitive debate has always been available to students at suburban schools, but it has never been widely available in more cash-strapped urban public schools. Urban debate programs level the playing field, giving urban students access to the same academically rigorous debate programs available to their suburban peers.