WCMC-Q Debaters Reign at Inter-University Competition

Dr. Rodney Sharkey (top middle in white shirt and tie) and WCMC-Q
debate club members, including Zahra Naqvi (front left) and Emad Alam
(front second from left).

For the fourth year in a row, WCMC-Q debaters won the Qatar National Universities Debate Championship.

Four teams representing first- and second-year pre-medical and first-year medical students competed for the title at the event, which took place at the College of the North Atlantic and was organized by QatarDebate.

In the final, opposing the motion “This House Believes Islamophobia is Unjustified,” medical students Emad Alam and Zahra Naqvi defeated the Carnegie Mellon team.

“They recognized that they had to argue that Islamophobia is justified and that this is a real sticky subject,” said Rodney Sharkey, Ph.D., assistant professor of writing and WCMC-Q debate club coach. “But then it dawned on them that they were not obliged to argue it is morally acceptable. They subtracted the morality out of it and made a very persuasive argument.”

As required by national final rules, the students assembled their main argument in 15 minutes. They suggested that justice and morality are mutually exclusive ideas. Stealing food is immoral, Naqvi argued, but in a situation where there is enough food in a society and a person is starving, it could theoretically be justified. Likewise, to be Islamophobic is immoral, but nonetheless justified in a world of Western media bias and terrorist activity. In the end, the students’ experience as debaters came to bear, Dr. Sharkey said.

Twenty teams from eight universities participated in the competition, including Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Qatar University, Stenden University Qatar and College of the North Atlantic-Qatar. Based on accumulated speaker points and four rounds of preliminary debates, top debaters participated in a grand final.

“I’m happy I was able to help win the tournament for my university,” said Emad Alam, who is entering his second year of medical school at WCMC-Q and who also won the best speaker award at the championship. “We were up against some really strong teams, but we held our nerves and delivered our best when it mattered most.

“Debate helps you think on your feet and identify the most pertinent arguments relevant to the given scenario,” he continued. “Medicine at the end of the day is about patient satisfaction and patient satisfaction is achieved through thoughtful, effective, doctor-patient communication.”

The rewards of participating in debate are many, Dr. Sharkey said, including overcoming shyness and gaining confidence through public speaking. Over the past four years, club participants have enjoyed both public and personal success.“Emad and Zahra has always been good speakers,” Dr. Sharkey said. “But I can see that they now know exactly what they need to do to get their point across.

By Kristina Goodnough and Emily Alp