Texas A&M at Qatar wins 6th International Universities Debating Championship
Published Jul 05, 2022
Texas A&M University at Qatar, a Qatar Foundation partner university, has won the first position in the 6th International Universities Debating Championship. The Arabic-language debating championship, held in Turkey this year, was organized by Qatar Foundation (QF) member QatarDebate.
Captain Wisam Gadam ‘25, Moaz Rabi ‘22, Khalid Mohammed Ahmed ‘23 and Moza Fahad Al Kaabi ‘25 represented the university. The team has been debating together for the last academic year at the national level. They watched videos of previous finals and held mock virtual debates with participants from other countries in preparation for the competition.
The students beat the team from Jordan’s University of Science and Technology and the team from Higher Institute of Islamic Studies and Research in Mauritania, who won second and third spots, respectively.
Gadam said: “Winning this with my team has been an inspiring journey. Beyond enhancing our debating skills, this whole experience has been amazing – to be able to network with and share experiences among a global community of students who share our passion for debate and analysis. The experience has reminded us that it is important that we believe in ourselves, and to stay focused on the task at hand. If you stay committed and put in the effort, the results will follow.”
Arab, Asian, European and American countries participated in the competition. The 324 debaters, 150 judges and 80 volunteers, involved in the event, represented more than 50 countries. Some of the universities were competing in an Arabic language debate for the first time.
Ahmed, who won the ‘Best Speaker’ third place medal is looking forward to promoting debating in Arabic among the community. “My association with debating started when I was in first grade, and since then I have continued on the path of debating over the years. I am now planning to work with the community as a debating coach, with a focus on debating in Arabic,” said Ahmed. “Winning this tournament as I graduate from Texas A&M at Qatar, is definitely a moment I will cherish.”
Rabie said that being part of Texas A&M at Qatar helped them hone the skills to succeed at this competition. “Giving presentations to large groups of people, oral exams, participating in and organizing educational events, participating in engineering enrichment programs (EEP), and interacting with colleagues at TAMUQ about different topics are valuable keys to win such a prestigious competition. However, nothing would have happened without the blessings of Allah.”
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