I’m happy to congratulated Dr. Ed Panetta, Director of Debate, for being a winner of one of this year’s Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Awards.

The award is given annually to faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching, a sustained commitment to high-quality instruction, and who are particularly engaged in undergraduate teaching. The award is prestigious (only five are awarded in the Franklin College) and comes with a monetary prize!

A list of previous winners can be found here.

Oscar Handlin proffered this challenge over a half a century ago:  Our troubled planet can no longer afford the luxury of pursuits confined to an ivory tower.  Scholarship has to prove its worth, not on its own terms, but by service to the nation and the world.  As we experience what some have labeled the third academic revolution in American higher education, universities look to meet the increasing demands of political relevance and accountability (Bergstrom and Bullis, 1999, p. 25).   Current domestic public policy concerns include: an inferior educational experience for children in kindergarten through twelfth grade, a degraded environment, rural and urban poverty, inadequate health care, and a compromised Social Security System.

The intercollegiate debate program is an ideal vehicle to provide an engaged form of scholarship.  Service learning is an educational experience that affords students the opportunity to apply what is learned in formal academic environments in community settings. 

On October 15, the University Student Union at UGA hosted a public debate between Michael Waldman and Andrew Napolitano on the issue of abortion.  Waldman, who was Director of Speechwriting for President Clinton from 1995-1999, advocated abortion rights and Napolitano, former judge and law professor turned FOX News judicial analyst, advocated a ban on abortion.  As part of our public service and outreach mission, Dr. Ed Panetta, Director of the Georgia Debate Union, moderated the debate. Video after the jump.