Detroit

Detroit is a city that has a (unjustified) reputation for being a dangerous and lawless city however I had an excellent time in this great city. Like most big cities there are places around town where it would be ill advised to walk around on your own at night but for the most part the residents of Detroit were incredibly friendly and welcoming.

We were met by Kelly Young and his wife Amy and were then taken to a nice Mexican restaurant in downtown Detroit. Driving around Detroit it becomes clear that Detriot a city that was hit hard by the global downturn and the city has pockets of blighted buildings however the vast majority of the town feels vibrant, multicultural and brimming with life.

The students we spent time with at Wayne State were incredibly funny and great to hang out with. The night before our debate we were taken to a famous brewery called the motor city brewery. I can officially say that we had the most amazing pizza that I have ever had in a restaurant. The theme of good food continued on the day of the debate with a lunch at one of Michigan’s most exclusive private member’s club. Eventually we got round to doing some debating and despite the amazing but heavy lunch we were able to put in a good performance debating whether or not we should negotiate with terrorists in what was a very enjoyable debate. We were lucky to be debating in front of the alumni of the debating team and we even met a debater who debated our predecessors in 1961! I felt really privileged to speak to former students who still obviously have a close connection to their debating societies and really felt that debating had a significant effect on their lives. The post debate dinner made me realise alumni relations was something that debating societies back in the UK could focus some of their attention on especially since many debating societies over here receive substantial donations from their alumni.

And a video of debate can now be found here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10286941