HWS News
17 March 2026 Winning Streak for HWS Debate
Recent achievements for HWS Debate include advancing to elimination rounds at USUDC — one of the most prestigious competitions in U.S. debate — as well as securing championship titles at Bard IV and Cornell Novice Nationals.
HWS Debate has had a busy 2026-2027 season.
Hudson Chou ’27 and Sasha Zory '28 emerged as quarter-finalists of the United States University Debate Championship (USUDC), the most competitive tournament in the nation. The tournament was held at the University of Pennsylvania.
This marked the second time Chou has broken into elimination rounds at the USUDC. In 2023, Chou and debate partner Fairooj Suhita ’27 reached the quarterfinals as first-years.
Presidential Fellow Sophia Mughal and debaters pose for a photo in Sofia, Bulgaria. 
“I was so impressed with our team and their perseverance on the World stage. HWS Debate is competing at the highest levels – and has a formidable reputation in that arena,” Mughal says.
In February, Martin MacConnell ’29 and Henry Snider ’29 emerged as champions at the Novice National Championships held at Cornell University. They beat teams from Cornell University, Yale University and Stanford University. This is the fifth consecutive year HWS Debate has made it to the elimination rounds of the tournament.
MacConnell and Snider debated a range of topics, including climate change, feminism and economics. The final motion asked debaters whether it is better to be a “city mouse” or a “country mouse,” an adage that considers whether life is better in an urban or rural setting.
Mei Le '29 was awarded fifth place for “Best Rookie Speaker” at the tournament. Lamia Nur Rahman ’26 and Sandeep Tissaaratchy ’26 were invited to serve as Chief Adjudicators, since the pair earned the championship title in 2023 in their first year of collegiate debate. Zory, Ballard and Louis Gontes ’27 also qualified as out-round adjudicators.
HWS Debate also competed at Bard College's Intervarsity Tournament, where Reyes and Ballard earned top honors as Open Final Champions, and Isaak Uriu '28 and Hillel Wasserman '28 emerged as Novice Final Champions. They were joined on the podium by Hilton Johnson '29 who earned “Top Novice Speaker” and Conor Hewart '29 and Archie Muir ’29, who were named novice finalists. Wasserman was also named fifth best novice speaker overall. Leo Bonacci '27 and Louisa Zelek '29 also broke into elimination rounds as adjudicators.
Up next, HWS Debate will compete in tournaments held at Colgate and McGill University.
