VU Debate Travels to Paris and Helsinki for Tournaments
Vanderbilt Debate this summer traveled to Paris, France and Helsinki, Finland. In Paris, Vanderbilt competed in the Transatlantic Dialogues on climate change. Arguing for increasing investments in sponge cities, the team finished in second place. The team also had the opportunity to explore Paris, including trips to Versailles, The Louvre, and the Paris Opera.
In Helsinki, the team competed in the Helsinki British Parliamentary Debate Tournament, where we finished in second place, and the Worlds Universities Debating Championship. During our time there, the team met with the Finland Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The team met with former Finnish Ambassador to Canada and current Senior Advisor to the ministry’s North America division, Vesa Lehtonen, and current desk officer for the USA, Marjo Mäki-Leppilampi. In this meeting, we learned about the history of Finland and discussed current affairs, including Finland joining NATO. We also had time to enjoy Finland, which included a ghost tour of Helsinki and a visit to the Finnish history museum.
The team looks forward to more international travel in 2022-2023 season. We will attend Worlds in Madrid, Spain this summer. There are also plans for a trip to Mexico.