For three days, the campus of Independent University, Bangladesh was unrecognisable to the students. There were four models of spaceships from the 'Star Wars' in the central courtyard of the campus. The open balcony space behind the courtyard was filled with stalls with different items ranging from cosmetics to newspapers, and coffee to barbecue chicken. The main entrance for the faculty had a De Lorean time machine from 'Back to the Future' franchise. On the corridor in front of the old cafeteria, there was an open green screen photo booth where on the projector nearby you would appear to be in the corridor of some futuristic space station. There was a Hulkbuster armour from 'Avengers: Infinity War', and there was a model of Wall E from the film of the same name. You may have missed seeing a Stormtrooper walking in his chalk-white armour and mask. The crème of the crop was the cafeteria, which was modelled after Upside Down dimension, with its own Demogorgon and a Christmas lights from Joyce Buyer’s house, which was seen in ‘Stranger Things’. The 20-foot long evening-dusk coloured banners proclaimed IUB Ascension 2018.
On paper, the event is just a three-day long debating tournament. However, the decorations, the innumerable volunteers and organisers, the excited expression upon the face of schoolchildren, university students and international participants will make you realise that Ascension is much more than just a debating tournament. It is a festival of fun, with the highest standards in hospitality and debate. This year IUB Ascension set some records. They first dared to host the mammoth 116 teams, among which 50 were from countries such as Nepal, India, Malaysia, and even Taiwan. There were 25 adjudicators as well, some from these same countries and some from Philippines and Indonesia. For preparing and conducting the tournament, IUBDC formed an organising committee of 113 members and a volunteer team of 120 people.
The tournament kicked off with a flash mob on Thursday afternoon, and the performers were mainly organisers with some participants. The stormtrooper was first seen dancing as part of this flash mob. The opening ceremony was brief, and the star-studded central adjudication core took the reins of the tournament. This core consisted of the likes of Rawnak Zaheen Wasi, who won Asian British Parliamentary (ABP) championship last year, and Cara Riantoputra who is a World University Debating Championship English as a Second Language (WUDC-ESL) quarter-finalist. There was also Bobby Andika Ruitang who is a WUDC ESL grand finalist, and Yarn Shih who has won ABP 2015 and reached quarterfinals of WUDC. This central adjudication core was completed with Adel Mostaque Ahmed, a veteran adjudicator from Bangladesh who adjcored in Asian School Debating Championship, and Harish Natarajan who has served as the chief adjudicator in tournaments like WUDC and European Universities Debating Championship. With such a glitter adjudication core naturally, the motions that followed were challenging, thought provoking and catalyst behind perspectives' opening.
After six preliminary rounds of intense competition, 24 teams qualified for the open knockout rounds, 16 for inter-school category and four for novice final. In the novice final, Khulna University became champion, beating the likes of Brihaspati Vidyasadan School from Nepal, Dhaka University and Kathmandu School of Law, who were the runners-up of the final. In the inter-school final, the championship went to the school representative of Debate Network Nepal, an organisation that runs debate in Nepal. The other finalists were Sunnydale, Manarat and Rajuk College, who were the runners-up.
In the open category, for the coveted title 'Champion of IUB Ascension 2018', the teams who fought were Taylor's University of Malaysia, Scholastica Mirpur, a composite team of Jainah from UT MARA and Parth Maniktala from Delhi University, and the host institute Independent University, Bangladesh. After an intense final that left everyone in IUB organising committee without nails, the title went to Delhi University due to Parth and Jainah's brilliant case. The runners-up were Taylor's University's Amrit Agastia and Sher May.
A special mention needs to be made of the epic break night organised by Archi Ananya, which featured the line-up of Nemesis and Cryptic Fate, two major bands of Bangladesh. If the audience thought Cryptic Fate was it, they were surprised to see an epic fire-spinning show that invoked memories of the cartoon Avatar's firebenders.
After the tournament, both international and local participants gave the verdict. IUB Ascension 2018 was the best tournament they have ever been to, and they cannot wait to come back next year. Parth Maniktala, the champion from Delhi University, said, “First time I heard about Ascension was from my Bangladeshi friends. The first experience of Ascension was record setting in terms of size, hospitality, the number of sponsors involved and the quality of volunteers. They surpassed all that this year. I have never seen a tournament of this scale in India or elsewhere. The teams and the motions were remarkable. I am already awaiting the next Ascension.”
As for the 113-member organising committee and the 120 volunteers, they have all said through social media that they had the best times of their lives, and are already thinking about ways to surpass themselves next year. This tournament is the flagship event of IUB, organised by IUBDC. However, the tournament directors Fardeen Ameen and Zubair Ridoan describe it as much more than that. For the former, a homegrown academic brand has rightfully reached international heights. For the latter, it is his world. If you want to see more of Ridoan's world, then come to IUB Ascension 2019.
The writer is a student of Independent University, Bangladesh. He can be reached at [email protected]
