Congratulations to Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s debate team for winning the 2013 Qatar Universities Debating League (QUDL). In this year's league, 107 speakers from nine institutions competed in five tournaments held between October and February. The league is won by accumulating the points of the best speakers from each university, and so is not just dependent upon a single student or team, but upon all the students participating.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar students rounded out the debating league with the following individual successes:

• Narcis Jafarian, Best Speaker Award

• Mohamed Benkermi, 9th Best Speaker Award

• Bilal Anwar Sheikh, Best Novice Speaker Award

In addition, four Carnegie Mellon teams participated in the National Debate Championships. Two teams made it to the semi-finals: Dana Al Ansari and Patrick Steinhagen; and Narcis Jafarian and Tarek Al Hariri. Jafarian and Al Hariri went on to compete in the final.

The best speaker awards from the National Championship went to:

• Patrick Steinhagen, Best Speaker Award

• Dana Al Ansari, Second Best Speaker Award

• Narcis Jafarian, 5th Best Speaker Award