The student team at the “University of Sciences and Arts in Lebanon (USAL)”, comprising students Rawan Harshi, Hiba Dehaini and Rua Sharafeddine and supervised by the international coach Hassan Al-Husseini, took second place at the “Seventh Qatar International University Debating Championship”. Students Rawan Harshi and Hiba Dehaini also took third and tenth place respectively as best speaker in the championship. This is the first time a Lebanese team has reached this position in the championship.
The competition began last Friday in Qatar among 255 speakers from 100 universities around the world. The debaters' topics included: economic instability, the absence of opportunity, conflicts, restrictions on freedoms, Islamophobia, hatred, whether the West is a refuge of deliverance, social and cultural differences, whether Muslim young people can flourish better in the West, whether they will be accepted and at what price, how that might affect the fabric of their societies in their home countries, loss of identity, and others.
The USAL team competed in the final against the team from An-Najah National University in Palestine. The team had qualified last January at the “National University Debating Championship 2024 in Lebanon”, organized by the “Smart” centre in partnership with “Discussion Society” and “Dialogue Debate”, and in cooperation with the “Qatar Debate Centre”, to represent Lebanon at the “Seventh Qatar International University Debating Championship”, alongside the teams of the “Lebanese University” and the “American University of Beirut”.
Today the USAL team returns carrying a Lebanese student achievement that Lebanon and its universities can be proud of.
