Club Spotlight: Daniel Webster Debate Society

The entire Daniel Webster Debate Society gathers for a club photo. Photo Courtesy of Chelsea Zhao

By ALEX LIM, MARVIN SHIM, KEVIN THANT, and  JADE YOO

    Every Tuesday night, the Daniel Webster Debate Society meets in the Assembly Hall. The debate club, named in honor of Senator Daniel Webster, is the oldest secondary school debate team in the United States. The club practices parliamentary debate, a form of impromptu speech that forces debaters to think on their feet and master the art of rhetoric. But to most debaters the debate team is more than that.

    “I think there’s something really special about the Exeter debate team,” senior Anvi Bhate said. Bhate is a former cohead, and has been debating since before prep year. “I really remember the coheads that I had in my prep year, and I remember looking up to them because all of them were so poised, and had such a good way of conveying their thoughts. They created such a good community. And, now, debate has been one of my favorite things to do at Exeter since.”

    “The people I’ve met through debate have been deeply inspirational—especially old coheads. I looked up to their skills in debate, which motivated me to get better,” senior and former cohead Will Soh said about the club.

    While reminiscing on the past coheads of DWDS, Bhate also brought up her own experiences as a past cohead herself: “I just want to shout out all my fellow DWDS coheads. Colin, Eamin, James, and I made such a good board. Every single Monday night we would Zoom, and I was always so excited to get on those calls, because without fail, we’d stay on call for an hour just having fun and joking around. We all became pretty good friends by the end. Each person had such unique qualities and areas of strength, and together, it made such a good, cohesive unit. And I’m just so grateful to have coheaded with them.”

    Lower Lauren Lee, an Advanced A Team debater, remarked on the irreplaceable bonds, connections, and memories she had created through DWDS. “One of my favorite memories of debate is with Colin Jung. We were doing a debate drill that entailed me to ‘maverick’ against myself, speaking for all four speaker roles and having ten seconds in between. It was crazy, and, you know, Colin was telling me off because I was bad.”

    Although the memory Although the memory appears stressful, Lauren described it as one of her favorite parts of debate: “Genuinely, I feel like that’s when you forge the closest friendships, because in the moment where you literally do not know what to say, that’s when you’re the most vulnerable. And that’s when there’s the most opportunity to grow and improve, so that’s a really great memory.”

    Adding onto her story, L. Lee mentioned PODS (Practice of Debate) and her experience judging them. “I actually really love judging for PODS,” she said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to see the content of someone’s character. You really see who they are, because some people will get really stressed and flail, or some people will become really aggressive as a way to hide their fear. PODS is a really rewarding experience because I’m able to truly understand the nature of the people around me and then give support and strong concrete feedback. And I really love showing people that I’m here to help them. I’m not trying to criticize you. I really am invested in your success.”

    Senior and former cohead Eamin Ahmed added, “It’s given me a community of peers who are working towards the same idea, people who are really passionate about arguing about what we should do as a human race, as a country, or as a school.”

    “Often topics were also really fun, and most rounds had a lot of energy and at least one or two bursts of laughter,” Soh said.

    Mastering the art of public speaking requires a great amount of practice and the unwavering dedication of the orator. And yet, despite the many hours it may take, conquering the podium has always proven to be a quite rewarding experience.

    “I think mental agility is the most important thing I’ve taken away from debate. When surrounded by so many different people who are so smart, qualified, it’s often hard [to speak] especially around the Harkness table,” L. Lee said.

    “I think it brings a great deal of confidence if you can walk into a room and you know how to debate and analyze arguments, which you should do everywhere, in every single class and every single moment of your life. Be able to justify the choices that you make, because that’s inherently important to the way in which you live your life,” lower Jinmin Lee, an Advanced B Team debater, also stated.

    “DWDS, more than anything, teaches you how to think on your feet. But not only that, it also teaches you how to make things up in a very logical and reasonable manner that is also convincing,” Bhate explained. “That’s something that I didn’t expect to learn going in, but with everything being so sudden and on the fly in drills and rounds, you really learn how to improvise.”

    “The reason why rhetoric was actually important, as Colin Jung once told me, is because you want to be able to control the room with your words,” J. Lee continued. “If you go into a group, and if you know that you can articulate yourself so well that you can probably convince anyone in the room of anything, then that brings a lot of power to yourself. But far more importantly, I would say that logic always needs to be paired with rhetoric.”

    Though skill is a crucial aspect of becoming a debater, there is another essential component—passion. The debater has to enjoy what they do. However, this isn’t a problem in Daniel Webster Debate Society. This is a common theme throughout many debaters.

    “I don’t think without the debate community I could be doing much else at the school, like Student Council, Mock Trial, even my grades, or my general outlook on life,” said L. Lee. “I wouldn’t have that without debate, because to do all these other things, you have to have that confidence in yourself and the belief that other people are going to be there to trust you and support you. And that’s all things that I’ve derived from the debate community.”

    Upper and cohead of the Forensics Team Elaine Qiao spoke about how debate allowed her to break down societal norms and speak up, explaining, “I think it brings a great deal of confidence if, you know, you can walk into a room and you know how to debate if you know how to analyze arguments, which you’re supposed to do everywhere. In every single class and every single moment of your life. Be able to justify the choices that you make, because that’s inherently important to the way in which you live your life.” Therefore, DWDS has sparked a passion and love for debate in many people and allowed people to open up and discover a confident version of themselves they didn’t realize they had in themselves. Everybody in DWDS is looked up to because of their welcoming nature and great love for the activity.

    The art of public speaking encompasses life in many ways. Whether it may be in a meeting, on a harkness table or at a debate tournament, the skill of rhetoric and manner of eloquence is important everywhere. Daniel Webster Debate Society is a community where you not only learn the skills to better yourself and the strength of your ideas, but one of like-minded people who will all support you. because of their welcoming nature and great love for the activity.

    The art of public speaking encompasses life in many ways. Whether it may be in a meeting, on a harkness table or at a debate tournament, the skill of rhetoric and manner of eloquence is important everywhere. Daniel Webster Debate Society is a community where you not only learn the skills to better yourself and the strength of your ideas, but one of like-minded people who will all support you because of their welcoming nature and great love for the activity.