2025 Harvard TOC

VDA is proud to announce another incredible finish at this weekend’s prestigious Harvard TOC International Qualifier Tournament. The event brought together some of the best debaters from five countries around the world, but VDA rose to the challenge with phenomenal results across multiple debate formats.

In Varsity Public Forum, the dynamic duo of Finn Ye and Apollin Lu powered through to become the Tournament Runners-Up, earning a coveted bid to the invitation-only Tournament of Champions in April. Finn was also recognized as the tournament’s Fifth Speaker, while Jadon Yao broke into the top ten as the Tenth Speaker. Just missing the break were the teams of Jadon Yao & Marcus Zhang and Angelina Guo & Joshua Zhou, who posted impressive 3-1 records, and Angelina Guo finished in the top 20 speakers at Eighteenth.

The tournament also saw VDA’s continued success in World Schools Debate, where the team of Eleanor Lin, Jay Zhang, and Sylvia Zhu advanced to the Semifinals of the Junior Division, with Eleanor and Sylvia being named the Fourth and Seventh Speakers, respectively. Jay also finished just out of the top 10 as the tournament’s Twelfth Speaker.

Our students’ hard work and dedication were the true drivers of this success. Coach Anoushka perfectly captured the spirit of the weekend, highlighting that, “the teams consistently displayed excellent strategy and teamwork in the face of complex, technically challenging motions. They supported and challenged each other throughout the tournament, advancing through their drive to better themselves. An incredible performance!”

This sentiment was echoed by Coach Stormee, who added, “I am so beyond proud of our team. This topic took a ton of hard work, dedication, and collaboration. It is because of our care for each other and desire to work as a team that we can all flourish.” She also gave a special shoutout to the tireless efforts of Finn and Apollin on their arguments and to Marcus Zhang for his late-night scouting and support, embodying the selfless teamwork that defines VDA. Congratulations to all our debaters on their outstanding teamwork and well-earned achievements.

Let’s go VDA!!!