Debate Struggle Gokul Agrawal

It was a less-than-exciting afternoon in the waning days of junior year when the mess began. My name, along with the names of two other speech and debate officers, was called over the intercom. We were wanted in the principal's office immediately. As the policy captain of our speech and debate team, I was confused as to the reason, but nevertheless entered Principal Kew's sparsely decorated office and took a seat. The reason for the meeting was soon apparent: the administration had learned our plans to establish a speech and debate camp that upcoming summer and considered it a liability hazard to the school. Therefore, the club would be suspended for the following year, with all club assets frozen. I balked. What liability? The summer debate camp, although independent and entirely student-run in actuality, might be seen as affiliated with the school because of its name. My fellow officers and I had spent months organizing this camp, hiring instructors, finding a suitable location, advertising to dozens of schools, and filling out paperwork. Principal Kew, however, seemed to think that these accomplishments were dispensable, and thus decided to wash them away in the span of an hour. We tried to reason with him:...