The top student debaters in the state will hoist a trophy named for the late, controversialist conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas announced Friday that the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative championship trophy will be named for Kirk, who gained notoriety for debating students on college campuses before he was assassinated last month during one of those events in Utah.
“The tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk underscores the importance of civic dialogue rooted in respect and understanding. Mr. Kirk’s example as a champion of open civic discourse reminds us that disagreement can and must remain peaceful, principled and constructive,” Kamoutsas said in a letter to district superintendents.
[The letter leaves silent Kirk’s frequent and strident declamations during his debating appearances against gays and transgender people, his bigotry against migrants and Muslims, his patriarchal sexism, the violence of his rhetoric, and numerous other extremist positions he normalized. “As for Kirk’s style of argument,” the conservative columnist Bret Stephens wrote, “owning inarticulate liberal kids in mass audience settings for the sake of producing viral videos isn’t real engagement, much less education. Did Kirk ever lose an argument, at least in his own mind?”]
The civics and debate program began in 2020 with 59 teams across 11 school districts at that that time. Today there are 330 teams in all 67 counties.
The competitions include declamation, dramatic performance, extemporaneous debate, impromptu speaking, informative speaking, legislative debate, and public forum debate.
There are 30 tournaments in the state each year “focusing on developing civic dispositions and reinforcing what is taught in the classroom,” Kamoutsas said.
The championship is held at New College of Florida in Sarsasota, which announced last month it would commission a statute of Kirk on its campus.
The Florida civics and debate initiative was launched while New College President Richard Corcoran was serving as the state education commissioner.
“New College of Florida is honored to host the FDCI Championship next April. Can’t wait to see you all there!” the campus’ X account replied to Kamoutsas’ announcement.
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p style=”text-align: right;”>–Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix, and FlaglerLive
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