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Potomac Oak Wins IPPF Championship After Falling Short Two Years in a Row

by Lauren Giella

Lauren Giella is a Senior Reporter based in New York. She reports on Newsweek's rankings content, focusing on workplace culture, health care and sustainability, profiling business leaders and reporting on industry trends. Lauren joined Newsweek in 2021 and previously covered live and breaking news, national news and politics and high school debate on the Mightier Hub. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California. You can get in touch with Lauren by emailing l.giella@newsweek.com.

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The Potomac Oak debate team poses with John Sexton (left) and William Brewer (right) after winning a $10,000 grand prize and the Brewer Cup at the 2022-2023 International Public Policy Forum contest at the Harold Pratt House in New York City on May 6. The prize money will go toward the school's debate program and to individual scholarships. Michael Paras/IPPF

May 11, 2023 At 12:09 PM EDT

After months of written and oral debates between dozens of high schools, the International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) finally has a winner.

Potomac Oak of Rockville, Maryland, was victorious over The Hockaday School from Dallas in the final oral debate round of the 22nd IPPF debate competition at the Harold Pratt House in New York City on Saturday, May 6.

In addition to the Brewer Cup, Potomac Oak received a $10,000 grand prize—$5,000 for the school's debate program and $5,000 in individual scholarships.

The IPPF was founded in 2001 as the National Public Policy Forum by the Brewer Foundation and New York University before expanding to international high schools in 2009.

William Brewer, a lawyer and co-founder of the Brewer Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization that manages a variety of educational outreach programs in connection with the Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors law firm, and John Sexton, a debate coach, law professor and former NYU president, started the IPPF as a free contest that combines written and oral debate on international policy issues.

The competition began last October, when hundreds of high school teams from around the world submitted qualifying essays about this year's topic: "Resolved: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an effective model for international cooperation."

IPPF Finals Judges

From left: NYU President Emeritus John Sexton, NYU Director of Debate Will Baker and Christina Phillips, director of debate at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, preside as judges of the International Public... From left: NYU President Emeritus John Sexton, NYU Director of Debate Will Baker and Christina Phillips, director of debate at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, preside as judges of the International Public Policy Forum competition in New York City on Saturday, May 6. Potomac Oak of Rockville, Maryland, was victorious over The Hockaday School from Dallas in the final oral debate round. More Michael Paras/IPPF

At the finals, IPPF Executive Director Andrea Sadberry said this year's contest was one of the largest and most competitive in its history, with more than 220 qualifying essays submitted from schools in Australia, China, Singapore, the Czech Republic and South Africa, as well as several U.S. states.

The top 64 teams compete in single-elimination written debates, exchanging essays over email. Judges then narrow down the competition to 32, 16 and finally an "Elite Eight" that travel on an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to compete in oral debates.

This year's winning team is comprised of four seniors and two juniors who all have been debating with Potomac Oak since they were in elementary and middle school.

The team has been IPPF runners-up for the past two years, with some students competing in each contest since the 2020-2021 season.

"This victory feels like the culmination of not just the seven months of hard work for this competition, but really all of the hard work and the learning that was put in the past three years," Potomac Oak debater and high school senior Evelyn Shue said.

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The final debate was moderated by David Baker, the director of admissions and financial aid and a former speech teacher and debate coach at St. Marks School in Texas and an IPPF Advisory Board member.

The oral debaters from the Potomac Oak team, Jonathan Fan, Lily Peng and Alexander Liu, argued the affirmative by defending NATO as an effective model of international cooperation because of its ability to mediate conflicts, prevent wars and foster international collaboration and economic growth.

Sanika Agarwalla, Sidney Murray and Diya Hegde of The Hockaday School argued the negative, saying NATO has fallen short of its purpose of countering security threats and restoring political balance in Europe and that there are other paths to cooperation outside international organizations like NATO.

After their first two speeches outlining each argument, the teams engaged in a cross examination. Then, the judges' panel asked each team questions. Finally, the third speaker wrapped up the arguments in the rebuttal.

"Speech and debate programs like the IPPF change lives—helping students find their voice, promote conflict resolution, and see the world differently," Sexton said in a statement to Newsweek. "NYU is proud to partner with the Brewer Foundation to offer this academic program to students around the globe."

IPPF Finals

Potomac Oak (left) and The Hockaday School (right) compete in the final oral debate at the 2022-2023 International Public Policy Forum tournament in New York City on Saturday, May 6. The oral debaters from the... Potomac Oak (left) and The Hockaday School (right) compete in the final oral debate at the 2022-2023 International Public Policy Forum tournament in New York City on Saturday, May 6. The oral debaters from the Potomac Oak team argued that NATO is an effective model of international cooperation. The Hockaday School argued the negative, saying NATO has fallen short of its purpose of countering security threats. More Michael Paras/IPPF

Chuck Walts, the director of debate for the Hockaday School, said he is proud of his team for making it to the finals, the furthest the team has ever gone since making it to the remote IPPF semifinals in the 2020-2021 contest.

The Hockaday School did not leave New York empty-handed. As finalists, the team received $3,500 for their program.

Additionally, Agarwalla, a high school junior at The Hockaday School, won the inaugural John E. Sexton Award, in honor of the IPPF co-founder. This award is given to an outstanding debater during the final round, as voted on by the judges, who exemplifies Sexton's life's work as a debater, debate coach and mentor.

"This award is an honor for many reasons, but most importantly because it represents so many students and mentors who shared their love of debate as a gift to me," Sexton told Newsweek. "The inaugural winner, Sanika Agarwalla, demonstrated remarkable poise and confidence. She is an inspiration to me—and represents the promise debate holds for future generations."

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