At QF, Georgetown is Named National Debate Champions Three Years in a Row

Press release

Published April 17th, 2023 - 05:47 GMT

At QF, Georgetown is Named National Debate Champions Three Years in a Row

During the event

The Georgetown Debating Union (GDU) at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), a QF partner, emerged victorious for the third year in a row at the National QUDL championship, which saw 28 teams from 10 universities compete in the 2022-2023 season, with the team of Dung Tran (SFS’26) and Pragyan K. Acharya (SFS’24) clinching the victory. Pragyan was also named the Best Speaker of the Grand Finals and the overall Best Speaker of the National Championship, capping off an outstanding performance by the GDU team.

The GDU team swept the Best Speaker awards, with Dung Tran (SFS'26) coming in second, Gaebriel Olsen (SFS'25) fourth, Tashafee Masoodi (SFS'26), Raed Asad (SFS'25), and Adrian Lopres (SFS'24) tying for fifth,Yaseen Muhammad (SFS’25) placing ninth, and Minahil Mahmud (SFS'26) taking home tenth. Tashafee Masoodi (SFS'26) was also named the Best Novice Speaker of the National Debating Championship, with Anupa Khanal (SFS'26) coming in second place.

The Qatar Universities National Debating Championship hosted by QatarDebate is an annual debate competition that brings together some of the brightest varsity-level debaters from across Qatar to compete against one another in a series of intellectually rigorous and engaging debates.

From his first year at GU-Q, veteran debater and club president Pragyan has helped lead the team to numerous victories.

“Our team has an incredibly talented and dedicated group of debaters who are passionate about the sport and committed to achieving excellence,” he said. “The culture of hard work, dedication, and continuous improvement that we have built will continue to drive the team forward, and I have no doubt that this team will achieve even greater success in the future.”

Background Information

Georgetown University in Qatar

Established in 1789 in Washington, DC, Georgetown University is one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions. Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), founded in 2005 in partnership with Qatar Foundation, seeks to build upon the world-class reputation of the university through education, research, and service. Inspired by the university’s mission of promoting intellectual, ethical, and spiritual understanding, GU-Q aims to advance knowledge and provide students and the community with a holistic educational experience that produces global citizens committed to the service of humankind.

Located in Doha’s Education City, GU-Q offers the same internationally recognized Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree as Georgetown’s Capitol Campus in Washington, DC. This unique, interdisciplinary program prepares students to tackle the most important and pressing global issues by helping them develop critical thinking, analytic, and communication skills within an international context. GU-Q alumni work in leading local and international organizations across industries ranging from finance to energy, education, and media. The Qatar campus also serves as a residency and delivery location for the Executive Master’s in Emergency and Disaster Management along with the Executive Master’s in Leadership.