Home-court advantage prevailed in The Real HU Debate last week. 

Howard Speech and Debate took on Hampton Friday in Cramton Auditorium. The event was sponsored by the Howard University Student Association and was moderated by Attorney Angela D. Minor, advisor for the team and professor in the Cathy Hughes School of Communications.

As one of the most popular rivalries in HBCU history, the feud is guaranteed to be entertaining anytime HU faces HU, but an intellectual exchange like this prompts more diverse attention.

There were two resolutions on the agenda: “Immigration status should be a part of the eligibility criteria for recipients of the Affordable Care Act”  and “African-American studies should be implemented as part of a national curriculum for K-12 public schools.”

The “illustrious exhibition,” though, focused more on rights to “The Real HU” title.

Howard’s team was passionate, sometimes resorting to sassiness. 

“I would like to thank Howard University for supplying the debate with theatrics and emotion, however, they have forgotten the topicality of the debate,” said Ryan Ball during her rebuttal. 

From name-dropping alumni to recalling the university history, Howard was banking on their home territory and crowd support, often using the audience as a prop. 

Howard fired an abundance of low blows at their opponents. “Ridiculous, foolish, doesn’t make any sense, and math not ‘math-ing’” were just a few terms thrown around in reference to Hampton during the event.

The beating was so brutal, someone from the audience shouted “take your time” to a Hampton speaker when he got caught in his words.

Very few “points of information” were accepted throughout the debate, and when they were it was with attitude.

“Howard’s reliance on itself is getting a little old,” said Sanaa Palmer, a senior sociology major.

Hampton’s classy approach was respectable, but their performance was underwhelming. Even with the chance to show out as the underdog, they could not live up to the opportunity. There were several moments of silence for Hampton when points didn’t land or were unclear.

The Howard University Speech and Debate Team currently holds the National HBCU Parliamentary Debate Champion Title. 

The full debate can be viewed here. The winners have yet to be announced.