Born as a student’s idea in a Yale classroom, the Yale Hindi Debate has grown exponentially, from an ambitious venture to an intellectual, cultural, and social institution. The debate was established as a Yale-only event in 2008, and now sees participation from faculty and students from USA’s preeminent schools, including Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, NYU, Cornell, UCLA, Wesleyan, Rutgers, the University of Texas at Austin, and Wellesley College.
The cat just wasn't enough. If you stepped out today, then this was you:
No matter how cold it gets, we sure can extend a warm welcome to our friends from warmer climes on the day of the national round. Who's on the list this year? Well, you'll have to wait to find out...
Congrats to all the Yalies that braved the storm today. If you weren't among the lucky few who had their classes cancelled, then you know exactly what this feels like:
The first Indian Miss America, Nina Davuluri, spoke to Yale on 4 February, 2014, at Battell Chapel. She spoke candidly about her past, and the backlash she received - first as Miss New York, and later, as Miss America. As articulate as she is beautiful, Nina addressed matters including beauty, race, religion, and even dating.
Listening to her, one can't help but think about ethnicity in the context of a globalized world - where distances between people are shrinking, while barriers between them continue to persist. For the Yale Hindi Debate, the mixing of cultures is of paramount significance. Perhaps YHD 2014 could debate this issue. We haven't decided on a topic yet - and this certainly seems ripe with potential.
The first poster for the 2014 debate is ready to take the campus notice boards by storm! Much like flowers, it will be up as the Spring semester starts. Is that why it's so colorful?