Undefeated: First Black Girl Duo Wins International Debate Competition at Harvard By BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors
FOR THE FIRST TIME in the history of the Harvard Debate Council, two Black girls from Atlanta have made history as the first Black female duo to win the annual summer debate competition at Harvard University according to an announcement. summer, Each the Harvard Debate Council hosts a summer residential program for hundreds of gifted youths from over 15 countries around the world who converge on campus for two weeks of intensive study, which culminates in a programwide debate tournament. This year’s residency and competition were held virtually due to COVID-19 protocols. Jayla Jackson, 16, is a rising junior at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. Emani Stanton, 17, is a rising senior at North Atlanta High School. Both girls are current members of the Atlanta-based Harvard Diversity Project, an initiative founded by Harvard’s award-winning debate coach and author Brandon P. Fleming. In 2017, Harvard accepted Fleming’s proposal to establish the Diversity Project as a means to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus. Fleming recruits underserved Black youth in Atlanta with little to no prior debate experience. He trains them every weekend for one year in Atlanta leading up to the Harvard summer program, 97
September-October 2021
Jayla Jackson & Emani Stanton (Courtesy of Harvard Diversity Project)
exposing them to higher level academic disciplines. In four years, Fleming has raised over $1 million to enroll over 100 African-American students into the Harvard debate residency on full scholarship. All four cohorts trained by Fleming’s unique curriculum have gone on to win the international debate competition at Harvard. This year, Jackson and Stanton secured the fourth consecutive championship for the Atlantabased team with an undefeated 10-0 record. The Harvard Diversity Project has already accepted a new cohort who will begin training in preparation for the Harvard debate residency of 2022. You can read more about the story of the program and its founder in Brandon P. Fleming’s bestselling book, “MISEDUCATED: A Memoir.” For more information, visit www.HarvardDCDP. org or contact info@HarvardDCDP.org. www.blackenterprise.com/undefeated-first-black-girlduo-wins-international-debate-competition-at-harvard/ DAWN
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