Meg Kandarpa ’23 and Eli Pallrand ’24

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Debaters take home national championship

Meg Kandarpa ’23 and Eli Pallrand, A&S ’24, are the winners of the 2023 North American Universities Debating Championship.

Members of the Cornell Speech & Debate Program, Kandarpa and Pallrand faced five teams in the finals of the worlds (British parliamentary) format debate. They defeated the University of Chicago, Yale University, Stanford University, McGill University and Dartmouth College.

The event was held at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, earlier this month.

Cornell Speech & Debate is one of the largest of its kind in the United States. It has over 100 members from diverse backgrounds and is based at the ILR School.

Mary Catt is director of communications for the ILR School.

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