NHI Announces Great Debate at the University of California, Berkeley

The National Hispanic Institute (NHI) is proud to announce that the University of California, Berkeley will serve as the host for NHI’s Great Debate program from July 5-10, 2023.

The San Francisco Bay Area is well known as a Silicon Valley, Golden Gate Bridge, foodie-culture, red wood forest, and is home to the windiest street in the US.

Thanks to UC Berkeley, the area also boasts some of the greatest young minds who live and learn while attending college.

NHI’s newest program location in northern California, the California Bay Great Debate, is a community learning experience for students in the northern California area. At the program, rising sophomores will have the opportunity to develop their communication skills, critical thinking, and public speaking skills, while presenting their ideas around Latino community advancement. 

NHI is dedicated to developing academically-confident  high school students with a desire for and aptitude for leadership. Through a three-year curriculum that includes week-long summer sessions and learning opportunities throughout the school year, NHI actively develops leaders for the growing global Latino community. 

The UC Berkeley sponsored event will enroll up to 100 rising sophomores in a tournament format, allowing them to discuss and reflect on challenges and opportunities for the Latino community, as well as create teams, develop camaraderie, and compete in speech and debate categories toward both individual and team honors. 

“This program’s primary objectives are to create greater accessibility in underserved communities, build a strong rationale for community leadership amongst Latina/o/x high school students, and create a pathway for higher education,” said Chris Nieto, NHI’s Senior Vice President. “In sharing resources, UC Berkeley will assist NHI in targeting key communities for outreach, provide college readiness workshops to students and families, provide campus virtual tours, and play an active role in developing the leadership capacities in students.” 

“We are excited for the opportunities that will arise from our partnership with the National Hispanic Institute,” said Trey Moore, associate director of diversity and inclusion at the University of California, Berkeley. “We look forward to working together in engaging more students to showcase not only Berkeley but encouraging the pursuit of higher education as a whole.  With this partnership, we intend to expand our efforts in serving the Latinx community and the state of California.”    

Prior to the pandemic, NHI coordinated as many as 17 annual summer programs, partnering with university hosts throughout the U.S. and in Mexico and Panama. This year, NHI plans to return to campus-led leadership programs in fullforce, and can think of no better way to celebrate the ability to serve students in-person than in sunny California. 

For more information on the organization or to register, visit nationalhispanicinstitute.org/great-debate. To reach out to an NHI representative for more about the program, contact NHI at info@nhimail.com.