Friends, I am passing along the following message from Jeremiah Kittredge, a former debater who has spent considerable time and energy the past few months working with the NAUDL to forge connections between “The Great Debaters” and our various communities.
There is little doubt that this movie will be consequential for public understanding of intercollegiate debate while also offering opportunities for intra-community dialogue and reflection. Given my interest and investment in Dr. Farmer’s legacy, I look forward to sharing my perspectives on these issues in the near future. I hope others will do the same. Efforts to network our disparate selves are crucially important and I encourage you to read his message, visit the site, and participate! Warm wishes for the holiday season, - Tim --- Dear fellow debaters, If you've been watching TV, if you read the New York Times on December 5, or if you caught an episode of Oprah on November 26, you may have heard about a Denzel Washington and Forrest Whitaker movie coming out called *The Great Debaters*. Inspired by true events, *The Great Debaters* tells the story of the 1934 debate team at the historically black Wiley College in East Texas. Denzel plays Melvin Tolson, the coach who leads this underdog squad to combat racism in the deep south and challenge Harvard's championship team. As debaters, this is a story that we all know. Debate helped us find our voices and stand up as leaders, just as it did for the debaters at Wiley. We've seen a lot of bad debate movies come out over the years, but this one has an inspiring story worth spotlighting. Debate is a trajectory changing activity for urban students, and *The Great Debaters *really speaks to the value of the activity in that regard. A website designed to drive a number of social campaigns in support of debate (and urban debate in particular) - TheGreatDebaters.org - is worth sharing. TheGreatDebaters.org has many ways you can get involved, both online and offline, to help bring promote debate. Now is the time to show the country why debate is valuable. It's also a great place to network with other debaters: It has its own social network, and on the site you can join a host of groups on facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc…. Check them out at: www.greatdebaters.org/community. Most importantly, you can *enter to win passes* to an advance screening in cities around the country. TheGreatDebaters.org. Check it out now. And forward this email to your friends! Thanks! Jeremiah Kittredge Jeremiah DOT kittredge AT gmail DOT com - - - Timothy M. O'Donnell Director of Debate and Associate Professor of Speech University of Mary Washington 316 Combs Hall 1301 College Ave. Fredericksburg, VA 22401 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (540) 654-1252 (office) (540) 654-1569 (fax) _______________________________________________ CEDA-L mailing list [email protected] http://www.ndtceda.com/mailman/listinfo/ceda-l
