Rutgers University Debate Union
Our History
Rutgers has a long history with debate, and actually took part of the first modern intercollegiate debate at NYU in 1880. However, RUDU itself was born in 2001 after a period of dormancy. For the past decade, we have been consistently in the top 10 colleges, and have had multiple teams and speakers win high ranking national titles.
Traditions
Being part of such a close knit team means that we develop some pretty fun traditions! Here are the highlights:
Pet Varsity: At the beginning of the year novices are matched to a varsity. We hold a social to reveal the pet varsities. The pet varsity is a mentor for their novices for all things in and out of debate.
RUDUgiving: RUDU holds a Thanksgiving dinner, usually held the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We decide on a restaurant through a competition (last year we had a Mario Kart tournament) and the team pays for food!
Secret Santa: This one is pretty self explanatory, but incredibly fun nonetheless! The gifts are usually hilarious.
Retreat: This is a new tradition as of 2020. We skip competing for a weekend, and decide on a location to relax, recharge, and hang out.
Senior Banquet: We get dinner at a local restaurant and graduating seniors give speeches about their time on the team. Afterwards, everyone else makes speeches honoring the seniors (either incredibly sweet and genuine or a roast).
Awards
2020-2021
15th College of the Year
Brown 7th Varsity Speaker - Sasha Chuprakova (2022)
Brown 6th Team - Sasha Chuprakova (2022) and Benjamin Mione (2022)
Brown Novice Semi-Finalists - Stav Kanza-Levi (2025) and Victoria Ajayi (2025)
Williams Novice Finalists - Stav Kanza-Levi (2025) and Brandeis Hybrid
Williams Finalists - Victoria Ajayi (2025) and William and Mary hybrid
2019-2020
Haverford Champions - Rajul Bothra (2020) and Jackson Utley (2020)
Columbia Novice Champions - Alex Purn (2023) and Daniel Lin (2023)
CUNY Second Speaker - Rajul Bothra (2020)
CUNY ProAms Top Speaker - Rajul Bothra (2020)
CUNY ProAms Top Novice - Benjamin Mione (2022)
2018-2019
14th College of the Year
19th Speaker of the Year - Rajul Bothra (2020)
CUNY ProAms Top Speaker - Rajul Bothra (2020)
CUNY ProAms Second Speaker - Mitchell Mullen (2020)
CUNY ProAms Finalists - Rajul Bothra (2020) and Zack Malek (2021)
University of Virginia Second Novice Speaker - Sasha Chuprakova (2022)
Georgetown Second Speaker - Jackson Utley (2020)
Temple Finalists - Rajul Bothra (2020) and Will Donnelly (2021)
2017-2018
9th College of the Year
7th Team of the Year - Mitchell Mullen (2020) and Pasha Temkin (2018)
18th Novice of the Year - Rajul Bothra (2020)
Maryland University Top Speaker - Mitchell Mullen (2020)
Georgetown University Champions - Pasha Temkin (2018) and Brandeis hybrid
George Washington Finalists - Pasha Temkin (2018) and Mitchell Mullen (2020)
Stanford Novice Champions - Rajul Bothra (2020) and Jackson Utley (2020)
American University ProAm Champions - Pasha Temkin (2018) and Rajul Bothra (2020)
American University Top Speaker - Pasha Temkin (2018)
Fordham University Top Speaker - Pasha Temkin (2018)
Temple University Top Speaker - Mitchell Mullen (2020)
New York University Top Speaker - Pasha Temkin (2018)
CUNY ProAms Finalists - Max Albert (2019) and Rajul Bothra (2020)
2016-2017
12th College of the Year
1st Team of the Year - Pasha Temkin (2018) and Max Albert (2019)
3rd Novice of the Year - Mitchell Mullen (2020)
Harvard Champions - Pasha Temkin (2018) and Max Albert (2019)
George Washington University Champions - Pasha Temkin (2018) and Max Albert (2019)
Swarthmore College Champions - Pasha Temkin (2018) and Max Albert (2019)
William and Mary Champions- Pasha Temkin (2018) and Brown hybrid
American ProAms Champions - Max Albert (2019) and Mitchell Mullen (2020)
TCNJ Novice Champions - Mitchell Mullen(2020) and Patricia Jastrzebska-Perfect (2020)
Washington University St. Louis Champions - Mitchell Mullen (2020) and CUNY hybrid
American University Top Novice Speaker - Mitchell Mullen (2020)
Princeton Top Novice Speaker - Mitchell Mullen (2020)