Friday, April 23, 2010

After weekend of final debates, champion of International Public Policy Forum emerges

On April 16-18, the "Elite Eight" teams of the International Public Policy Forum gathered in New York City for a weekend of competitive debate. After the finals round, the team from the Ministry of Education in Singapore rose to the top as the 2009-2010 IPPF Champion!

The final round featured debates between the champion team and the runner-up team from Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Kentucky. For the first time ever, the final round was broadcast live online, where viewers also acted as a seventh judge and had the opportunity to vote on the winner. The other judges included William Brewer, Retired General Wesley Clark, NYU President John Sexton, National Forensic League Executive Director Scott Wunn, and Emory University Director of Forensics Melissa Maxcy. The Singapore team won with a four to three vote.

The awards ceremony on April 17th took place at the W Hotel in Union Square in New York City, where the champions were presented with the "Bickel and Brewer Cup" and a $10,000 grand prize. More than 125 guests attended the ceremony and General Wesley Clark gave a special address to the debaters.

The IPPF is sponsored by the Bickel and Brewer Foundation and New York University, and is a free debate competition made available to high schools around the world. For more information on the IPPF tournament, click here.

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