The benefits of participating in competitive debate are well documented. John Sexton (1994), president of New York University and former dean of NYU Law School explains: “In some ways debate is superior training to what’s offered in some law schools.” Debate has also been shown to have particular advantages in closing the achievement gap for students in urban school districts. A study on the Chicago Urban Debate League, spanning from 1997-2006 published in 2009 by the Journal of Negro Education reports that debate participants are 70% more likely to graduate, three times less likely to drop out, and more likely to score at or above the ACT benchmarks for college readiness in English and reading compared to those who did not debate (Mezuk, 2009, p. 290). The Journal’s report concluded by saying that participation in competitive debate for underserved youth, and in particular, African American young men, may be an effective means to improve secondary literacy and thus overall academic performance outcomes (Mezuk, 2009, p. 291). However, despite the documented advantages of competitive debate, low income and minority students are underrepresented in the activity, especially at the highest levels of forensics.

In response to the above, in the fall of 2013, MSQI partnered with the New York City Urban Debate League (NYCUDL) to launch a debate initiative aimed at supporting New York City middle schools in creating competitive debate teams and providing opportunities for students who are typically underrepresented in debate to compete in debate tournaments.