Future Army officers, the best debaters in the League

An argument in favour of a role for the military in the refugee crisis earned the team from the University of Zaragoza victory in the VII Inter-University Debating League, which took place in La Rioja from 16 to 18 March. The winning team includes three cadet second lieutenants from the Centro Universitario de Defensa (CUD): fourth-year students Alberto de Arellano and Joaquín Flores and second-year student Aarón Alcaraz. Its fourth member is a civilian: Carmen Perdiguer, who studies Law and Administration & Business Management.

The team’s legal, historical, political and social arguments in favour of a military operation showed their excellent knowledge of the subject and their command of rhetoric, which persuaded the jury to grant them victory over their rivals from the University of Cantabria.

In the first phase of the competition, the debating team from the University of Zaragoza had beaten those from the universities of the Basque Country and Oviedo, and in the semi-final, that from Extremadura.

The value of rhetoric

The Inter-University Debating League was established in 2009 in order to foster dialogue and the public exchange of ideas among students as an exercise in coexistence as well as to foment the development of personal skills such as research, analysis, oral expression, listening, teamwork and speed of response. The peculiarity of the debate is that the subject is known in advance, but a few minutes before it starts the teams are randomly assigned positions, for or against the proposal.

The Debating League is promoted by a group of nine Spanish public universities from different regions, among them the University of Zaragoza. CUD is affiliated to the latter. The success in this competition showcases the excellent work being carried out and the remarkable degree of cohesion achieved in the education of future officers.

The members of the team after their victory (Photo: CUD)