University of Mary Washington Communication Professor Timothy M. O’Donnell discusses the effort to revive debate at historically black colleges during an interview scheduled to air on the “With Good Reason” public radio program beginning Saturday, February 6.
O’Donnell, an associate professor of communication and director of debate at UMW, is a nationally-recognized leader of a campaign to help historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) field high-quality debate teams on crucial public policy issues.
O’Donnell’s interview, part of a broadcast called “No Argument Here: Reviving Debate at Historically Black Colleges,” will air on WCVE 88.9 FM on February 6 at 4:30 p.m. and on WAMU 88.5 FM on Monday, February 8 at 12:30 a.m. The broadcast also can be heard beginning February 6 at withgoodreasonradio.org/2010/02/no-argument-here-reviving-debate-at-historically-black-colleges.
O’Donnell was inspired to spearhead the effort to revive debate at HBCUs by James Farmer, the late civil rights leader and UMW history professor. Farmer, the leader of the 1961 Freedom Rides that led to desegregated transportation in the South, sharpened his oratory as a member of the legendary 1935 Wiley College debate team portrayed in Denzel Washington’s 2007 feature film, “The Great Debaters.”
In 2009, O’Donnell and the UMW debate program collaborated with HBCUs that included Norfolk State and Hampton universities to plan and host a week-long debate workshop to promote intercollegiate debate’s revival. O’Donnell and UMW also have pursued a debate exchange with Hampton.
In addition O’Donnell, who is the elected chair of the National Debate Tournament Committee, helped organize the first ever Inaugural Debate Series—which invited HBCUs and other schools including UMW to D.C. on the eve of the 2009 inauguration to debate Obama administration priorities.
UMW has a long tradition of excellence in intercollegiate debate. The UMW debate team won the American Debate Association’s 2009 Varsity National Championship.
O’Donnell, who teaches the UMW seminar “James Farmer, The Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Movement, and the Great Debaters,” believes the intellectual roots of the American civil rights movement sprang from the tradition of debate—which he regards as a quintessential American art form.
O’Donnell received a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wake Forest University. He teaches courses in public speaking, argumentation and debate, public argument, and rhetorical theory and criticism.
“With Good Reason” is the only statewide public radio program in Virginia. It hosts scholars from Virginia’s public colleges and universities who discuss the latest in research, pressing social issues and the curious and whimsical. “With Good Reason” is produced for the Virginia Higher Education Broadcasting Consortium by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and is broadcast in partnership with public radio stations in Virginia and Washington, D.C.