Non-compulsory, non-competitive, nonpartisan: These are the three pillars on which The Agora at ASU was founded. This debate club, which started this semester, was designed to fill a gap on campus that its members thought the University had left neglected.
This student-run group is dedicated to creating a space that mirrors the ancient Agora of Athens: a gathering place that stood as the center of democracy, said Jake Dueck, the organization's president and a senior studying history and political science.
Dueck described the Athenian Agora as a bustling city center where legislative bodies held debates and philosophers like Socrates gave public speeches.
"No judges scoring tournaments, winners, losers," Dueck said. "It's just people defending a case, making an argument, trying to convince the other side purely for the sake of argumentation."
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In the modern day, the seven founders created an alternative debate club to address problems they faced in similar organizations on campus. In these environments, they often found unproductive dialogue, unreasonable expectations and unhelpful institutions.
Dueck, who previously served as president of a political club on campus, often felt frustrated that members were more focused on winning than learning. He wanted a club that concentrated more on the issues rather than the opinions.
"I wanted people to really think and maybe learn from each other," Dueck said. "Instead, what we got were people coming not to listen to other people, but to just listen to themselves."
To resolve these issues, the club based itself upon three core values: it's nonpartisan, non-competitive and non-compulsory. Dueck said they want to create a space where members don't feel pressured by politics, strict time commitments or stress over winning and losing.
The Agora at ASU's mission is to provide a learning environment where students build public speaking skills without the fear of losing or messing up, said Audra Ward, a sophomore studying finance and the club's vice president of finance.
Ward said that once students feel safe to make mistakes without any negative consequences, they can learn faster, better form their thoughts and discover how they want to debate.
"All it takes is just having the trust and the confidence that we are not here to judge you. We're just here to help you," Ward said.
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The club had its first meeting on Aug. 27, with 12 students attending. The club hopes to attract more students and is confident in its ability to bring in a larger community.
Vice President of Recruitment Carson Park, a junior studying political science, said The Agora at ASU plans to promote itself consistently on social media to bring in new members and emphasize the unique opportunity it has created for students.
"People flock to where there's a gap in what they have, and that's really about it," Park said.
He said the club aims to demonstrate that "what Jake has created here fills a void that ASU professors have not filled, ASU organizations, et cetera."
The Agora at ASU hopes to strip away the normal pressures of a standard debate club and create a community of students with a willingness to listen and learn from one another.
"You don't have to worry about judges, you don't have to worry about scores, you don't have to worry about winning, just be the most convincing," Dueck said.
Edited by Dhemi Bell, Carsten Oyer and Sophia Keeling.
Reach the reporter at akbrow36@asu.edu.
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Alyssa Brown is a Community/Culture Reporter at The State Press. This is her first semester with The State Press.
