One hundred years ago, the debate teams from The Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh met for the first time in school history. On April 9, 1915, students from Penn State traveled to Pittsburgh for a debate on the Monroe Doctrine. Penn State won on a 3-0 decision.

To celebrate that event’s 100th anniversary, the Penn State Speech & Debate Society will host the University of Pittsburgh at 6 p.m. April 16, in Foster Auditorium (102 Paterno Library) on the University Park campus of Penn State. They will debate the topic, “College student athletes should be paid.” Guest judges will be Stephen F. Ross, director of the Penn State Institute for Sports Law, Policy, and Research, and R. Scott Kretchmar, professor of exercise and sport science in the College of Health and Human Development. There will be an opportunity for audience members to ask questions during the debate.

The debate rivalry between Pitt and Penn State restarted in 2011 following a brief period in which Penn State had no debate team. Since 2011, the two schools have had a regular “home and home” debate series with tentative plans to debate in Pittsburgh in 2016.

Photo courtesy of LaVie,
Penn State University Archives