Hart House is one of the crown jewels of the University of Toronto campus; after its establishment in 1919, it remains at the centre of student life and hosts a variety of clubs and events every year. One of the oldest and best known clubs is the Hart House Debate Club, which practices in the Hart House Committee’s Room on Mondays from 3 pm to 5 pm and Tuesdays from 7 pm to 9 pm. The Debate Club competes in local, national, and international events (including a fantastic performance at this year’s World Universities Debating Championship). As a fellow debate enthusiast, I decided to drop in to one of the weekly meetings and see what they were all about.
(Also, there’s a totally cool logo)
The atmosphere at HH Debate was warm, albeit a bit intimidating at first. The executives are friendly and definitely informative. Besides the weekly practices, HH Debate actively reaches out and recruits from the community through their Outreach Program. The focus of the program is to improve the abilities of rhetoric, argument, and persuasion in students at all levels of education, and in the past three years, the Outreach Program has reached over 100 students outside U of T. The director of the program, Joe McGrade, described his main objective as: “serving the community through teaching the art of debate to any and all who wish to pursue the art of persuasion and rhetoric. We respond to requests by numerous groups in society, including high schools, universities, and community groups and conduct seminars led by our own world class debaters.”
A group of debaters, usually volunteers, meet in front of Hart House periodically and travel to the school that requested their help. Upon arrival, they start with a seminar on the debate style most commonly used in the season or region, before doing one or two practice rounds. The exact itinerary varies based on “the skill set and needs of the group, often times return visits build upon foundations established in preliminary sessions.” This past autumn, McGrade led a seminar at the U of T Scarborough campus, and in previous years have helped out with the U of T Mississauga campus and various high schools around the Greater Toronto Area. The goal isn’t just to give all the resources and guidance a school or club might need to create articulate, well-rehearsed speakers (thought that certainly is a bonus)–it’s to spark interest in young adults in both debate, public speaking, and major issues.
(We, um, will work up to that.)
For anyone who is still interested in joining the Hart House Debate Club or any of the other student programs at Hart House, it is highly encouraged that you seek out these opportunities either this year or at the beginning of next year. Not only do they offer volunteer opportunities like the Outreach Program, they often offer opportunities for experience and to meet people with similar interests.
U of T is such a large campus, it can be difficult to find a group where you can belong–so take some time to see if you can find your niche at the Hart House.
If you are interested in having the Hart House Debate Outreach Program visit either a current or past school, a request form can be found here: http://www.harthousedebate.com/outreach.html
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