DVC Hosts Speech and Debate Invitational to Combat Misinformation

In an era of deepening political division and digital misinformation, Diablo Valley College has taken a proactive approach to equip younger generations with critical thinking tools through the revival of a time-honored tradition: formal debate.

The college recently hosted the “DVC Viking Middle and High School Invitational,” bringing together approximately 340 students from local institutions including James Logan and Archbishop Mitty high schools for a rigorous two-day competition of elimination-style verbal contests on November 15-16.

“A major concern a lot of industry thinkers have is how polarized politics have become, and I think a lot of that has to do with people not doing their own research and not critically evaluating the information they’re receiving,” explained Paul Villa, professor and co-director of DVC’s Speech & Debate program, who helped organize the event.

The tournament represents more than just academic competition—it arrives at a critical moment when distinguishing fact from fiction has become increasingly challenging amid a flood of AI-generated content and partisan information sources. For many educators, debate represents a powerful antidote to these societal challenges.

Students enrolled in DVC’s COMM 163: Forensic Speech and Debate course served as judges, providing them with valuable experience evaluating arguments while offering constructive feedback to younger competitors. The event followed DVC’s recent first-place victory at the University of the Pacific’s “Paul Winters Invitational” in Stockton, where they outperformed prestigious institutions like UC Berkeley and Whitman College.

For participants like Isa Renteria from Benicia High School, the benefits extend well beyond the competition itself. “It helps us, especially as a younger demographic, to be politically aware,” Renteria noted. “We understand what’s happening around us, and we’re also able to understand misinformation a lot easier. We’ll look at the news and be able to point out why someone’s logic is wrong, or when they’re blatantly lying, which is really important in this political age.”

The invitational marked the first time in a decade that DVC specifically invited middle and high school students to campus for such an event. Villa highlighted the unique opportunity this created for college students to experience judging without sacrificing their future eligibility to compete themselves—a restriction in college-level competitions.

“If you ever judge a college competition as a college student, you actually have to forfeit your eligibility to compete forever,” Villa explained. “There’s some unique benefits to being a judge as opposed to a competitor. You kind of start realizing when you’re on the other side of the table, ‘Oh wow, a lot of things that people say in debates didn’t factor into my decision.'”

Beyond developing critical thinking skills, the tournament provided accessible competitive opportunities for schools with limited resources. Communication Studies Professor Robert Ramos, another organizer, emphasized the event’s affordability compared to similar competitions.

“There’s a lot of events that happen at Berkeley and other places that are sometimes cost-prohibitive for teams to go to,” said Ramos. “What we offer here is close, it’s local, and it doesn’t cost a lot. Our prices are really low, and anything that we get, we put back into the tournament.”

The tournament’s format challenged participants to think on their feet, giving them just 20 to 30 minutes to research assigned topics before presenting arguments—often for positions they personally disagree with. Villa sees this as crucial to developing what he terms “critical empathy.”

“I think that is what teaches people critical empathy, to understand the viewpoints of other people they may disagree with and engage with them rather than retreat from them,” he said.

With DVC’s debate team now at its largest size ever and growing interest in the program, both Villa and Ramos expressed enthusiasm about hosting similar events in the future, viewing this tournament as a foundation for expanded collaborations with other schools.

“Debate is about seeking truth through argumentation and evidence and research,” Ramos concluded. “People coming together in the community to have real, authentic interpersonal interactions like this is super important. These programs are so necessary right now in our rapidly changing world.”