Baltimore Urban Debate League receives grant
Open Society Institute donates $300,000 to expand area debate program
Carrie Oleynik
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The organization shares a partnership with TU, along with the Baltimore City Public School System, the Fund for Educational Excellence in Baltimore and the Barkley Forum at Emory University in Atlanta. The annual grant has increased from $230,000 last year
"The grant is going up because the leagues are expanding," Chris Baron, program manager of the BUDL, said. "But we are trying to expand partnerships with the other organizations in order to decrease the amount of money needed."
The BUDL, now in its fourth year, is working toward ultimately lowering the grant, allowing its various affiliates to solely support the program. It's also working toward having the debate program become a part of the Baltimore City Public School System, serving as an extra-curricular activity for students in high school.
Ken Broda-Bahm, associate communication studies professor and coach of Towson's debate team, said that the BUDL wants the speech program to become a part of Baltimore City's public high schools without receiving extra funding through grants.
"We have this plan to wean off money, so TU will assume responsibility in working with local Baltimore City public high schools," Broda-Bahm said.
The league consists of TU staff and students who work with 18 public high schools coaching and judging speech and debate tournaments, while helping students become better at discussing issues.
"One thing that strikes me is that Towson plays an administrative role," Baron said, "And in an effort to make the grant amount decrease, we have a board of advisors, which several TU folks are a part of."
The Open Society Institute hopes to serve solely as a "seed planting" organization for the BUDL. If and when the league can become a part of the Baltimore City high school program, the Open Society Institute plans to step back.
"Their interest is to start seed projects and have them take off on their own," Baron said. "They are not into making endowments because they only want to start projects, not continue them."
Baron added that the BUDL is looking for TU students and staff to volunteer their time by participating and judging at local debates.
"We are always hungry for volunteers," he said. "Not only is it a way to debate a variety of topics, but it's also a place where TU can recruit students to be a part of the debate league here at Towson. We have three Baltimore City public high school graduates who are now attending TU as freshmen this semester."
BUDL member Shawntia Diggs, a freshman psychology major, said that when she first began looking at colleges, her four years with the debate league were not an issue.
"Then, when I found out that Towson had a really good debate program, I thought to myself, 'If I could debate in college, then I'll go for a really good debate team and graduate in four years," Diggs said.
She added that being a part of a debate team helps her with such scholarly skills as note taking, listening and focusing.
"Normally, when I'm like, 'OK, I want to go to sleep, I'm tired,' I know I can't because I have to pay attention in order to fully be a part of the debate and I use that mentality while sitting in a class," she said. "The little skills we learn through debate cross over and help me perform as a student."
In addition to helping students improve various skills, the grant provides transportation to debates where Towson students or staff are either judging or participating. Also, the funding supports the supply of books and materials, allows mentors to visit Baltimore City high schools once a week and provides training during the summer.
For more information about the BUDL, contact Chris Baron at (410) 704-2969 or visit the Web site at www.budl.org.
