The first footage from this year’s Mayor’s Challenge Debate is now online!

Hear from a number of powerful voices, including Augsburg President Paul Pribbenow talk about why debate is so important for preparing students for college.

In the Great Surveillance Debate Hodan Osman (Edison High School) and Malik Akintola (Roosevelt High School) debated against Ella Harker (Como High School) and Carlos Alderete (Johnson High School) on the subject Resolved: The United Stated Federal Government should dramatically curtail it’s domestic surveillance.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman lead the Judges Panel and was joined by James Burroughs, the Minnesota Chief Inclusion Officer; Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the President & CEO of the Minnesota High Tech Association; and Professor Mark Kappelhoff, the Associate Clinical Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Relive the moment with Sam Hartzell’s blog post, or check out some of our photos from the event on Facebook.

Special thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation; our VIP Sponsor, Vance Opperman; our Leadership Sponsors, Deluxe Corporation, Internet Essentials from Comcast, Faegre Baker Daniels, Dorsey, Nilan Johnson Lewis, Greene Espel, Olup & Associates, UnitedHealth Group, Gustafson Gluek, and the UMN Communications Studies Department; and to our Partners who helped us organize the event, Twin Cities PBS and Civic Eagle. Along with our supporters who contribute to MNUDL, you make it possible for us to keep policy debate strong in the Twin Cities.