The Worlds University Debating Championship (WUDC) is the world's largest international debating tournament, held from late December to early January each year.
The tournament is hosted in the British Parliamentary debate format, which includes four teams of two debaters in each round. This year, WUDC was hosted in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and attended by over 300 teams from collegiate institutions across the globe.
WUDC traditionally includes nine preliminary rounds, where the top 48 teams move on to a series of elimination rounds, culminating in the Grand Finals. In each round, debaters are given 15 minutes to prepare speeches engaging in a variety of topics such as philosophy, international relations, environmental policy, and finance.
This year, the University of Chicago’s official parliamentary debate team, the Chicago Debate Society (CDS), selected 5 teams and 2 judges to attend WUDC in 2024, with support from the University of Chicago Dean’s Fund. The cohort of competitive debaters consisted of: second-years Bowser Lu, Anika Khanna and Jesenia Parthasarathy, third-years Brian Li, Ethan Jiang, Helen Wu, Alessandro Perri and Michael Moran, and fourth-years Ahmad Howard and Laura Giugno. Additionally, fourth-year Samuel Johnson and third-year Anqi Qu were chosen to represent UChicago as institutional judges.
In Vietnam, CDS earned the best performance in our school’s history, with two UChicago teams making it to the late elimination rounds of the tournament. The team of Howard and Perri placed in the Octofinals (top 32 teams in the world), and the team of Wu and Jiang placed in the Semifinals (top 8 teams).
Along with competing, CDS also explored Vietnam’s wide breadth of cultural offerings, creating lasting friendships and memories along the way. In between debate rounds, CDS crawled through the Cu-Chi Tunnels, postmarked letters from the Central Post Office, squeezed through the Binh Thanh Market, and enjoyed countless plates of mouthwatering Vietnamese cuisine.
WUDC represents an unparalleled experience for UChicago students to engage in stimulating intellectual conversations, cross-cutting global perspectives, and important geopolitical issues.
Beyond its competitive nature, however, debate also represents a space to uphold the core tenets of the Chicago Principles. By providing an outlet for free expression and genuine experiential learning, opportunities such as WUDC vastly expand the worldview of debaters, cultivating the type of compassion and resolve needed to pursue a host of broader social goals.
Below, read student reflections from four members of the CDS team who traveled to Vietnam.
Helen Wu, third-year economics & political science major
Upon arriving in Ho Chi Minh, I was immediately greeted by a unique blend of cultural sights, colors, and many, many flavors. Our WUDC experience was flavorful indeed. As I first arrived at the front door of our hotel, I was greeted with a classic “No Smoking” sign as well as a new, unfamiliar notice: “NO DURIANS ALLOWED!” Soon, we discovered that the hotel’s cautionary warning was not misplaced. Around every street corner, local vendors sold a vibrant medley of uncommon fruits and vegetables, from jackfruit, soursop, and rose apple… to the elusive durian, whose aroma was just as bold as expected. One day, we decided to try our hand at some of the fruits—the more unfamiliar they appeared, the better. In our hotel room, we dipped sweet slices of our new harvest into packets of rock salt—a classic Vietnamese combination of sweet, salty, and sour.
This fruitful memory epitomizes the experience of debating at Worlds – a fusion of familiar and unfamiliar, flavors new and old.
As for the “familiar,” I deeply treasured the opportunity to travel internationally with a cohort of my closest friends at UChicago. After long days of debating, CDS provided a supportive and familiar home base; we animatedly discussed rounds, laughed about slip-ups during our speeches, and provided comfort through the nervous waves of competition-day emotions. This year, my partner and I were lucky enough to make it to the Semifinals of the tournament. Though we were undoubtedly the underdogs in most of our later rounds, whenever I felt nervous or intimated, all I had to do was direct my eyes towards the back of the room. Round after round, the familiar faces of our teammates lined the audience, silently cheering through our speeches and rejoining in our successes. When I think back to Worlds, I recall the constant support and unity of our team more than just our competitive achievements.
Each year, WUDC also provides a healthy dose of the unknown. Whether navigating the Vietnamese medical system, fist-bumping a Serbian team after our round, or spending New Year’s watching the spirited choreography of a Vietnamese dance troupe, there was truly never a dull moment. Debate provides an eye-opening experience to engage with cross-cultural perspectives. Not only do I have the opportunity to apply my lessons from the UChicago classroom to an array of political and social debate topics, I do so in a room filled with students from across the globe, each possessing unique perspectives, personal anecdotes, and cultural backgrounds.
Nowadays, whenever I crave a slice of fruit, I find myself unconsciously sliding open the spice drawer—after all, a sprinkle of salt with some pineapple truly makes the best snack. Like my newfound culinary tastes, the memories and lessons I took away from Worlds will stay with me for a lifetime!
Ethan Jiang, third-year economics major
My experience at the World Universities Debating Championship in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam was, in a word, incredible. From a debating perspective, my partner and I reached the semifinals, tying the best performance in UChicago history. It feels surreal to say that we ranked among the best eight teams in the world. I’m incredibly grateful to our coaches and teammates who supported us along the way, offering valuable feedback and advice, as well as my partner, Helen, who was the engine behind our team.
Beyond the result itself, I deeply enjoyed discussing topics of international importance with debaters from around the world. One of my favorite motions concerned the urban development of Vietnam and whether the nation’s government should focus on developing small cities like Da Nang and Can Tho or large metropolises like Hanoi. The round gave me an appreciation for the power of place; it is rare to be able to debate about Vietnamese urbanization in a Vietnamese city.
I also enjoyed traveling in Ho Chi Minh City and its outskirts. In addition to the incredible cuisine and bustling markets, I traveled to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a network of tunnels used by the Vietcong during the Vietnam War, and I learned about the history of the war and its aftermath.
I’d like to thank the University of Chicago Dean’s Fund for their gracious support of this trip, and I look forward to competing in next year’s edition of the championship in Panama City, Panama.
Jesenia Parthasarathy, second-year data science & political science major
I am not traditionally comfortable with solo international travel which made me feel, at first, apprehensive about journeying all the way across the world to Vietnam. However, upon arrival, I was one-by-one greeted by the warm members of our team. As more of our team showed up after my arrival, I began to feel more and more familiar, almost at home, in a country that is foreign to me. A large part of this trip was the bonding experience between our teammates: from late night talks to getting lost in markets.
We faced a few trials in terms of adjusting to social norms, some of which landed us in small accidents, but the closeness of our team truly showed in those moments. Members opted to sacrifice sleep to take care of each other, checked up on others when they weren’t doing so well, paid for each other’s meals, held each other’s bags and called each other taxis. Despite being surrounded by hundreds of other students at the venue, the students on our UChicago contingent were the people I knew I could rely on at every moment. The level of intimacy UChicago’s teams displayed separated us from the other schools in a way that was most visible in the room where all the teams gathered.
Even in our free time, whether we were anxious about debating, or not feeling so physically well, our teammates would find time to ask each other how their rounds went. I was proud of our team, not only for our amazing performance, but also for the level of closeness we displayed and genuine care for each other’s success.
Anika Khanna, second-year economics & psychology major
My experience at WUDC was one I will truly never forget. The warmth and support I felt amongst our CDS team was truly amazing and I gained exposure to several new perspectives through interesting debates. I had the chance to debate and make friends with students from Sydney, Nigeria, South Africa, China, India and various other countries. Additionally, by debating topics from finance to international relations in a global context, I also gained knowledge of current events from around the world.
My time at WUDC was not without trials. On the first day, my partner and I worked hard to come back from a slow start in our first round. We discussed our team strategy and worked on speech techniques, improving our debate skills and bonding with each other. It was beyond rewarding when we improved drastically in our next two rounds, scoring first and second.
However, at the end of the first day, I was met with an unfortunate accident—I was hit by a motorcycle while crossing the street. As a result, I was forced to drop out of the tournament. I received medical treatment in the ER in Ho Chi Minh City, and flew home the next day for further medical attention. Luckily, I did not suffer any permanent injuries and had the unwavering support of my CDS teammates. My friends and teammates were truly amazing—they called cabs to the hospital, communicated with my parents about my situation, packed a hospital bag, supported me emotionally through my time in the ER, and were even prepared to stay the night with me at the hospital if necessary. I was touched by their supportiveness, empathy, and responsiveness to the situation and am so grateful that they were there for me.
Despite having to leave WUDC early, I am very grateful for this experience. I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to participate in this amazing debate tournament, get a brief exposure to Vietnamese culture, try new kinds of food and explore a new city. Most importantly, I learned that I could always rely on my friends at CDS. I am excited to return to UChicago once I recover fully and continue my debate journey.