Good evening,
My name is Meg Kandarpa, and I am a rising senior at Cornell University.
I'm reaching out to continue the dialogue that began in BP NA Debate
regarding finding a college willing to host NAWGMDC (North American Women
and Gender Minorities Debate Championship).
NAWGMDC, formally known as NAW*DC, is the only major that is dedicated to
creating a space for women and gender minorities (WGM) in debate. This
tournament has yet to be held in person since 2019 and served (both
physically and virtually) as a space for new and veteran debaters to help
uplift the WGM community and provide a safe space for people to express
their gender identity however they wish.
This tournament needs to be a priority, not only as a competitive arm for
WGM debaters to qualify for the HWS RR, but also to provide a space for WGM
to not be burdened with the biases they currently face in the debating
world — e.g. speaker point deflation, misogynistic feedback, and overall
micro and macro aggressions that push WGM out of the debating space.
Canada has hosted this tournament for the past three years, therefore
making it the US's turn to host this tournament. *We are hoping to find a
school that would be able to host NAWGMDC 2022, and is still locationally
accessible to many Canadian schools in Toronto, Montreal, etc.* Suggested
dates for this tournament (based on competition schedules) are *October
7-9, October 21 - 23, and December 2 - 4.*
In regards to support, I and many other WGM leaders in the community are
willing to help in the tournament organization and competition as much as
possible — this includes Tab, Equity, CA Team, and more. We would just
request that a school be willing to organize the physical elements such as
hotel blocks, food, and rooms to debate in.
If this is something that your school may be able to host, please let me
know and I will be sure to help however I can.
Thank you once again for your time,
Meg Kandarpa
--
*Meghana Kandarpa (she/her/hers)*
*Cornell University 2023*
*Industrial Labor Relations B.S.*
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