Arabic Debate Club Competes in National Championship for the Fourth Time

Sept. 27, 2024

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences

Members of the Arabic Debate Club are headed to the U.S. Universities Arabic Debating Championship for the fourth consecutive time, hosted by New York University from Sept. 27 to 29.

The team has been preparing through hours of weekly practice with support from Khaldoun Almousily, program coordinator and senior instructor of Arabic in the department of Classical and Modern Languages, who serves as a coach and judge in the competition.

Fawwaz Turkmani, a sophomore public health major minoring in Arabic, and Haleema Shwehdi,  a junior majoring in nursing and psychology with a minor in Arabic, are two of four team members participating. They’ll be competing with 150 students from 50 other universities from across the country.

Turkmani explains that the Arabic Debate Club meetings typically last 2 to 3 hours each week, including 20 minutes of prep time, followed by debates and corrections. Before competitions, they increase their practices to 8 hours each week. Together, they acknowledge both mistakes and effective points made during the debates to help each other to improve and grow.

Turkmani says he has benefited from feedback he has received from Shwehdi, who is particularly skilled at giving advice on how to improve. While Turkmani didn't go to nationals last year, he attended regionals this past spring. Despite struggling in his first debate, Turkmani improved in the next rounds thanks to Shwehdi’s guidance.

During that same regionals competition, the Arabic Debate Club team won Best Non-Native Arabic Speaking Team.

“All of that experience really helps your confidence and your debate skills,” Turkmani said.

During this weekend’s competition, the team will be given their debate topic 10 minutes before the debate session begins. This makes focusing on debate skills rather than on large vocabulary words extremely important to their preparation process.

“Everything's a group effort, everyone's doing their role, and that's how we have succeeded,” Shwehdi said. “It's not just because of one person. It's because of that team perspective and all four of us putting in the work. We succeed because we all did it.”

Turkmani said that while he initially joined Arabic Debate Club to improve his ability to speak the Arabic language, it has supported his growth in other unexpected ways.

“It really makes you open-minded, because a lot of times you're on the side that you don't want to defend, debating a side that may not align with your personal beliefs,” Turkmani said.

Shwehdi said participating in the club and the competitions has also helped expand her skills and the way that she thinks. In one of her first meetings, she debated about veganism, a topic she had been previously unfamiliar with at the time.

“I think I had never thought about it from the other perspective; it really makes you think about things in other ways, and it forces you to put yourself in someone else's shoes,” Shwehdi said. “It really helps you to think more critically.”

Almousily said he is proud of the fact that the team remained connected and dedicated over the summer, continuing weekly practices even when classes were not in session.

"I see them become more outgoing, not being as shy when public speaking, and it really boosts their self-confidence when they speak at these events,” Almousily said. “Debate is a lifestyle for them.”