The Houston Urban Debate League (HUDL) - Dr. Thomas Freeman  Virtual Campus Forums is designed to encourage debate teams to reach out to the school-wide community to create dialogue and discussion over criminal justice reform.
 
Debate, as an activity, provides the skillset necessary to have dialogue during difficult times; to empower students to discuss, seek out expertise across a wide array of beliefs and ideas; and to provide forward thinking solutions produced by student leaders of various debate programs. These forums could include issues like Black Lives Matter, recent court decisions concerning the LGBTQ+ community, immigration reform, Covid-19’s unique impact on Latinx, African-American, and indigenous communities, etc.  

The local HUDL debate program is the single best student-led activity that helps facilitate that dialogue.
Students and coaches can have ownership over their local forums, giving students a voice and developing skills of advocacy.

The Dr. Thomas Freeman campus speaker series will give HUDL the opportunity to build and support local debate programs while also honoring the legacy of Dr. Thomas Freeman. HUDL outreach to area and nation-wide law schools can provide speakers who offer subject area expertise on areas related to criminal justice.

HUDL has approved outreach for up to 20 schools with each school receiving $500 for successful completion of the project.

For additional questions, please feel free to reach out to HUDL Board Chair Eric Emerson - eric.emerson@kinkaid.org