On May 7, 2021, the Fulton Debating Society held the 129th annual Fulton Prize Debate in Gasson 305 and on Zoom. The students debated in Gasson 305 while the judges and guests viewed the debate on zoom.
The topic for the debate was, “Resolved: The United States should restrict the activation of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the Republic of the Philippines to an armed attack on the territories, islands, and armed forces under the administrative control of the Philippines.”
Debating on the affirmative side was Sophia Carter, ’22 and Anderson Zhang, ’23. The negative side was argued by Cross Conrad, ’23 and Louis Gleason, IV, ’23
The affirmative side argued that the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines should not be activated if the Philippines engages in conflicts with China over disputed areas in the South China Sea. It argued that a China-Philippine dispute over oil drilling or clashes involving their fishing boats did not constitute threats to U.S. national security that justified going to war with China.
The negative side argued that applying the activation of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) to the South China Sea was vital to deterring Chinese aggression. It cited evidence that the MDT was successful in restraining China from building a military installation on Scarborough Shoal and from conquering the Whitsun Reef.
This year’s judges were six distinguished Fulton alumni and former coaches, including Kim Wong, (J.D., 1986, BC law school, BC debate coach, 1985 to 1986 and now a Professor in the Business department at Central New Mexico Community College), Wenyu Blanchard,’95 (Vice President at SP Plus corporation), Christopher Strunk, ’95 (Law partner in Gordon & Rees’ Oakland office), Nicholas Brady, ’96 (Senior Attorney at US Securities and Exchange Commission), Jared Fields, ’01, (Chief Legal Counsel for Mustang Development) and Dominic Cameratta (CFO, Cameratta Companies).
In a 5-1 decision, the judges voted for the affirmative and awarded the Fulton Medal (for top speaker) to Anderson Zhang and the Gargan Medal (for second best speaker) to Sophia Carter.