Northeast Great Debate brings students for Villanova for six days of debate

The National Hispanic Institute has a long and storied history with Villanova University, and that continued with NHI’s Northeast Great Debate from July 21-26, which brought 160 students to Villanova (from Mexico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, as well as from across the United States) for a six-day debate program.

“The 2015 Northeast Great Debate was an intellectual and cultural symposium of young Latino leaders from across the world,” said Natalia Palmarini, education director for the program. “A conversation about the reality of a Hemispheric Latino Community was used to immerse every participant and staff member for the purposes of challenging the way that we build ourselves as leaders who will move our community into the future. It was a life changing experience for everyone who participated. We are all looking forward to next year and are excited to see who will be new to this ongoing conversation about the future of the Latino Community.”

Winners for the individual events included:

Oratory
1st Place: Ana Bottle, John F. Kennedy American School of Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico
2nd Place: Luis Almanza, Colegio Americano de Torreon, Torreon, Mexico
All-State: Cesar Menchaca, Colegio Americano de Torreon, Torreon, Mexico

Mock
1st Place: Magdalen Lind, Westtown School, West Chester, Penn. & Luis Rodriguez, Escuela Sierra Nevada, Huixquilican, Mexico
2nd Place: Indhira Mata, KIPP Generations Collegiate, Houston, Texas & Jose Cervantes, IDEA Pharr College Preparatory, Pharr, Texas
All-State: Luis Almanza, Colegio Americano de Torreon, Torreon, Mexico & Ailish Bennett, Ridgewood HS, Ridgewood, N.J.

Extemp
1st Place: Anjali Bisaria, New Rochelle HS, New Rochelle, N.Y.
2nd Place: Raymundo Bello, IDEA Pharr College Preparatory, Pharr, Texas
All-State: Alejandra Beltran, John F. Kennedy American School of Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico

CX
1st Place: Daniel Castaneda, John F. Kennedy American School of Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico & Ana Bravo, Colegio Real, Panama City, Panama
2nd Place: Juan Caballero, Colegio Real, Panama City, Panama & Jacquelyn Arroyo, KIPP Generations Collegiate, Houston, Texas
All-State: Andrea Posada, Colegio Brader, Panama City, Panama & Ricardo Schumm, Colegio Americano de Torreon, Torreon, Mexico

Atheneum
Winner: Mikel Sanchez, Colegio Brader, Panama City, Panama

Hall of Fame
Nicolas Alvarez Hernandez, Colegio San Agustin, Panama City, Panama

Estrellita
Dewi Henry, Westtown School, West Chester, Penn.