Hackley US Parliamentary Debate Team has Strong Showing at HSPDP Championship

The students debated such topics as whether the United Nations should abolish permanent membership of the security council and whether TikTok is a national security threat.

Hackley seniors had an especially good day, with seniors Robbie Gutheil, Spencer Ormsby and Jad Benslimane going undefeated in the main draw and then winning the tournament in a final public debate. Seniors Harper Kelsey and Phoebe Abrahms, along with junior Nina Zeltser, also went undefeated, coming in third place overall.

 

The rest of the team, including seven freshmen, also had an impressive performance. Theo Anderson ’27, Zack Reinmann ’27 and Max Michael ’27, as well as Nico Kim ’27 and Arjun Virk ’25, enjoyed 3-1 records. Jonah Gaetz ’27, Teddy Wang ’27 and Gabriel Fossner ’27, and JouJou Shair ’25, Mia S. ’28 and Angela Croce ’25 came in at 2-2. Overall, Hackley’s 18-6 record in the preliminary rounds was more than enough to earn top school in total wins and second place in winning percentage.

 

Jad Benslimane ’24 received the golden gavel as the tournament’s top speaker, and Hackley had five of the top 10 speakers, including Jonah Gaetz ’27 coming in second, Harper Kelsey ’24 third, Nico Kim ’27 sixth and Angela Croce ’25 ninth.

 

The day capped off an extraordinary season for Hackley’s parliamentary debate team, who also won our tournament in March and had three of the four top teams in January. 

 

With such a strong freshmen showing on the 20th and all year long, Hackley is poised to have another strong season next year.