Another year of summer debate has come, and we were so pleased to welcome 70 students from the Debate Institutes at Dartmouth to the Notch on Monday, July 6. On this day the students were led on a tour of the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site by Education Director Diane Kemble, Program Associate Rushad Thomas, and committed volunteer docent Nick Tassone. Following their tour, the students witnessed a mock debate between Coolidge Foundation chairman Amity Shlaes and Mexico Business Forum president Roberto Salinas-Leon. Amity took side in favor of tax hikes, while Roberto countered her. Following this lively debate, the students had the opportunity to query Amity and Roberto, as well as prepare for their afternoon debates.
Following four debate rounds we held a championship debate in which the top two teams faced off before the assembled crowd. The winners of that debate were Arjun Rajun and Samantha Lai. Arjun is a rising junior at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH. Samantha is from Hong Kong and is a rising 11th year student at Diocesan Girls School in Hong Kong. We are very proud of all the students from the Debate Institutes at Dartmouth who participated in Coolidge Debate Day!
Coolidge appointed my Grandfather, Alfred J Pearson as American consul to Poland in 1924. Dan Ernst ’53