UH Speech and Debate members Eric Lanning and Tanweer Rajwani earned top honors at the Mvubu Debates at George Washington University and earned a trip to South Africa. | Courtesy of UH Communications
Speech and Debate students Eric Lanning and Tanweer Rajwani have won a study tour of South Africa after taking the top spot in the Mvubu Debates at George Washington University. The pair spoke about South Africa’s change from an apartheid to a democracy and beat Harvard University in the final round in order to receive top honor. They also spoke about South Africa and its past participation in the violation of human rights.
“We had several judges approach us after the competition and tell us that it was impressive that we could be passionate about both sides of the issue,” Lanning said in a statement to UH.
“The panel of judges in the final round had representatives of the Rawandan and South African embassies. These were people who lived through the Rawandan genocide and South African apartheid. Being judged by these individuals and meeting them after the competition was a life-changing experience.”
The duo will travel to South Africa in January to visit historic sites and have the chance to meet with human rights leaders.
