Washington Urban Debate

The Washington Urban Debate League (WUDL) is making transformative opportunities available for under-resourced students in the D.C. area. Peer-reviewed research shows that debate is one of the best things a student can do with their out of school time, building life-long and career oriented skills that can’t be automated or outsourced. Debate is where it is cool to be smart, and we've built a powerful intellectual community that hones a students' academic and social-emotional growth.

Sadly, without urban debate, these opportunities are often only found at elite private and suburban schools. WUDL empowers middle and high school students attending public schools (especially Title 1 Schools) to advocate for themselves and provides a pathway to college and career readiness that compliments traditional pedagogy. Since our inception, we’ve served thousands of students from more than 50 public schools in D.C. and the surrounding area. D.C. is rapidly gentrifying and its public school students need irreplaceable life and career skills to be competitive and successful in the future. Demand for our program often outstrips our capacity to support new students and schools, so we hope you'll join us supporting the empowerment of local young people.