AUK Team Comes 2nd in the League of Debates of Higher Education Institutions

On May 6, 2013, the final ceremony of the League of Debates of Higher Education Institutions was held at Kuwait University under the auspices of Kuwait University President, Dr. Al- Abdul Latif Al- Bader, and American University of Kuwait (AUK) Interim President Dr. Nizar Hamzeh. The ceremony was attended by many academic personnel, in addition to a delegation from the State of Qatar represented by the Executive Director of the Qatar Debate Center, Dr. Hayat Abdullah Ma'arafi. During the event, AUK Interim President Dr. Hamzeh received a superiority award on behalf of the AUK team that reached the finals. The AUK finalists were also honored by Kuwait University and the corporate sponsors of the ceremony.

The League of Debates announced the April 27-30 debate competition at a press conference mid-April in the presence of the media. At the conference, Assistant Professor of Arabic Dr. Khitam Al-Khouli represented AUK, and discussed the importance of these debates in developing students' personalities, and expanding their cultural knowledge of all political, economic, and social topics so that they might be effective leaders in the future. Dr. Khitam highlighted the fact that AUK students already have much of this knowledge, in addition to the oratory freedom needed to express it, and the understanding of the importance of respecting people's opinions.

The AUK team participated in all workshops that took place at Kuwait University, Kuwait International Law College, the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, the Arab Open University, and also conducted intensive training here at AUK on Saturdays and Tuesdays from 2-4pm.

The League of Debates of Higher Education Institutions brought together teams from ten participating institutions including, The American University of Kuwait (AUK), Kuwait University (KU), Kuwait International Law College, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, and the Arab Open University. Each institute competed with one male and one female team.

The AUK team competed with all of the other teams from different institutions, and both the male and female teams won in the quarterfinals, which was divided into three rounds. Winning advanced them to the semifinals, which was divided into two rounds, and again, the male team won and advanced to the finals. Dr. Khitam Al-Khouli participated on the arbitral committee during both the first and the second rounds. Moreover, Ahmad Al Refai earned commendations for giving/delivering the best response speech and being the best speaker for four consecutive times, and Fayez Al Moasherji was declared the best speaker during one round, which only added to the success of the AUK teams. The male AUK team lost narrowly to KU in the finals, but performed wonderfully and had much to be proud of.

Winning second place in the finals, the male team proved themselves as outstanding competitors with good confidence, convincing arguments, and a strong knowledge base. As a result of the AUK success in the debate, AUK qualified to participate in various Arab debate competitions next year, such as the Qatar League Debates.

Released by the Office of Public Affairs on the 16th May 2013