CONFERENCES AND EVENT SERVICES | Loyola Marymount University will play host to the Victory Briefs Institute, a group of 200 staff and students coming to Los Angeles from across the country to hone their debate skills. Open to debaters entering grades 6-12, this three-week session is the institute’s flagship program, complemented by similar courses at UCLA and Swarthmore College in Philadelphia.
VBI will meet July 14 to Aug. 2, during the busy summer season for LMU’s Conference and Event Services, as they accommodate 45 groups on the bluff between May and August.
Victory Briefs is a nationally recognized youth debate organization, whose students have won more than 50 national debate championships, in addition to hundreds of national invitationals, state tournaments, and a world championship. According to its organizers, “debate becomes increasingly complex each year. The highest levels of success require knowledge of moral and political philosophy, debate theory, politics, law, [and] critical theory, in addition to communication and argumentation skills that require hundreds of hours of practice.” As a result of the curriculum and 1-on-1 faculty mentorship, many students say they learn more during the VBI sessions than in an entire school year, and return for two, three, or even four summers.
VBI students will undertake a demanding circuit of lectures and drills, labs, and debate rounds during their time at LMU.
