An average student and an avid basketball player, Vargas attended the institute because he was offered a scholarship and was intrigued by the idea of trying something new. In spite of his fears, Vargas became one of the institute's best debaters that summer. He and eight other students from Grace Dodge went back to New York City to form their school's first debate team. They immediately began winning in tournaments against schools with established teams. And I gained a lot of confidence.
Debate is an empowerment tool.
The grant provides scholarships to middle and high school students from inner-city areas nationwide. The Open Society Institute was drawn to the Barkley Forum because of its long-standing history of support for high school debate programs in disadvantaged areas of Georgia. But we had been running our service programs on six rubber bands and a gerbil. In 1995, the Barkley Forum and the Atlanta Public Schools established the Atlanta Urban Debate League to level the disparity between suburban and urban school populations. Emory student debaters helped teach workshops and judge tournaments in the schools, and they donated trophies they had won to be reused to recognize students in the high school tournaments.