UNE’s dental school students take top honors over Harvard, UConn, BU and Tufts at Student Dental Association Debate

A team of students from the University of New England’s College of Dental Medicine (UNE CDM) were proclaimed the winners of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) District 1 Debate, which was held on January 30, 2016, at the Yankee Dental Congress in Boston.

Alex Kerbaugh and David Veleck, both from UNE CDM’s class of 2017, were the victors of the debate, which brought together competing teams from the five District 1 Schools, the University of New England (UNE), the University of Connecticut (UConn), Boston University (BU), Tufts and Harvard, as well as one pre-dental team. The questions, chosen by the debate planning team, which comprised students from the various District 1 schools, focused on controversial topics in dentistry and issues that impact students and the dental profession. While the questions were revealed to the competing students a week in advance, the stances that they were required to argue (affirming or opposing) were not assigned until the day of the debate.

Three first-round debates pitted Harvard against the Pre-Dental team, Tufts against UConn and UNE against BU. UConn and UNE emerged with the highest scores and progressed onto the final round.

The judging rubric included scores for use of evidence, organization of arguments, strength and specificity of rebuttal, professionalism and adherence to time constraints. Another UNE dental student Ava Lindert, also from the class of ’17, an ASDA officer, served as the moderator of the debates.

Veleck stated that the win for UNE demonstrates the quality of the education it provides to its dental students. “It shows that UNE CDM’s academic and professional environment is preparing our predoctoral students well,” he said, “not just with exceptional clinical skills but with the ability to constructively discuss the issues that affect our profession and advance change.”

The ASDA District 1 Debate is an annual tradition that is entirely student-run by the five District 1 schools. UNE’s win marks the second-year that the university has competed in the event.