Six college debate teams from across the country will come to the Smithsonian to discuss the priorities of the new Obama administration and debate issues such as the economy, foreign policy and climate change. The program marks the 100th anniversary of the first debates between Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the historic inauguration of America’s first African American President. The Inaugural Debate Series will take place Monday, Jan. 19, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Baird Auditorium at the National Museum of Natural History.

The debate series features six teams with some of the nation’s top collegiate debaters, including schools with close historical ties to the real-life “great debaters” depicted in the 2007 film of the same name starring Denzel Washington.

Teams participating in the debate include Michigan State University, Wake Forest University, the University of Mary Washington and the University of Southern California, as well as two schools representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities—Fayetteville State University and Voorhees College. The debates are presented by the National Museum of African American History and Culture in cooperation with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the Debate Consortium, with support from the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

The Debate Consortium was formed to help African American colleges and universities develop the capacity to field high-quality debate on crucial public policy issues.

The students will debate some of the most important issues confronting the new Obama administration, from energy and climate change to health care, the economy and foreign policy. The series will feature three debates, each approximately 75 minutes in length.

The first debate on energy and climate change, from 9:30 to 11 a.m., has Michigan State University against Wake Forest University, two schools that represent the pinnacle of intercollegiate debate—both having won the National Debate Tournament, America’s most historic and prestigious national debate championship, in the past three years. 

The second debate, from 11:10 a.m. to 1 p.m., features the University of Mary Washington and USC arguing health care and the economy. USC was host to Wiley College in the “Great Debate” of 1935 (although the film substitutes Harvard for USC). The most famous member of the Wiley team—the distinguished civil rights leader James L. Farmer Jr.—concluded his long career as a professor of history at the University of Mary Washington.

The third debate, from 2:10 to 3:30 p.m., on foreign policy, features Fayetteville State University versus Voorhees College, two Historically Black Colleges and Universities that are committed to making the virtues of a debate education central to their educational mission.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture was established in 2003 by an Act of Congress, making it the 19th Smithsonian Institution museum. It is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, art, history and culture. The Smithsonian Board of Regents, the governing body of the Institution, voted in January 2006 to build the museum on a five-acre site on the National Mall. The Constitution Avenue site is adjacent to the Washington Monument and across the street from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. For more information about the museum, please visit nmaahc.si.edu or call Smithsonian information at (202) 633-1000, (202) 633-5285 (TTY).

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