Carnegie Mellon Qatar Arabic debating team reaches USADC finals

A student team at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner university, reached the finals at the 4th United States Arabic Debates Championship (USADC). About 150 debaters from 40 universities competed at the event.

The team was composed of two seniors studying computer science, Moamin Ibrahim and Diram Tabaa, as well as information systems senior Ahmad Alhallaq. All three students were spending the semester studying on the Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh campus at the time of the competition.

Tabaa and Ibrahim were also named fourth and tenth best speakers at the tournament.

While nearly all instruction at CMU-Q is in English, many students choose extracurricular activities and electives in Arabic to sharpen their skills. Historically, CMU-Q Arabic language debaters have been very successful in national and international competitions.

In their last semester at CMU-Q, Alhallaq, Ibrahim and Tabaa hope to inspire younger students to explore Arabic debate.

“We are very proud of the culture of Arabic debate that we have cultivated at CMU-Q,” said Tabaa. “The analytical skills CMU-Q students learn in class, along with lots of practice expressing complex reasoning in our native language, makes for a winning combination. I hope the newer batches of students will take up the challenge.”

The team was one of four to reach the final round.