Welcome
The University of Pennsylvania Parliamentary Debate Team currently consists of about 45 members, and we eagerly await prospective newcomers to our team for the 2008-2009 school year. We compete on the APDA (American Parliamentary Debate Association) circuit, which consists of some of the best schools in the country, including all the Ivy League, Johns Hopkins, MIT, and Duke among others.
The Penn Parli team competes throughout the entire Northeast United States, debating at schools such as Yale, Columbia, Johns Hopkins and many others including those noted above. In addition, we host a Pro-Am tournament at Penn's campus every year. Team members can attend as many tournaments as they would like, with the team covering the vast majority or even the entirety of all travel costs.
Members of Penn's Parliamentary Debate Team frequently hold many other leadership positions throughout the university. Over the past several years, team members have served in such capacities as Student Activities Council executive chair, head of the Student Federal Credit Union, President of the John Marshall Pre-Law Honor Society, President of College Republicans and College Democrats, as well as the highest positions in numerous fraternities, sororities, honor societies and athletic teams. After graduation, members have gone on to attend top law schools, consulting firms, investment banks, and hedge funds. Former members have joined the ranks of Yale Law School, McKinsey, and Goldman Sachs. Overall, the team is a great way to get introduced to the University, recieve guidance on courses and how to navigate your next few years, and provides a gate way to the future.
Our performance at tournaments this past year was one of our best in recent memory. Last year, at Boston University's Novice Tournament, the first tournament our new members attend, Penn teams represented half of the teams breaking to quarter-finals out of a field of over 100 teams. We had numerous outstanding performances from several of our individual members as well as excellent team records overall in the past few years, and we expect to continue our winning ways in the upcoming year and into the future.
