Knarik Adamyan, Santiago Doñate, Laura Luque, Irene Moya and Pau Sadurní were the members of the team that has come to the grand final. Pau Sadurní, member of the team, has been awarded as best speaker in the competition. The team representing the Universitat de València in the University Debate League of the Xarxa Vives celebrated on the University of Alacant on April 2026 will be chosen among the 27 students that have participated in the Internal Debate League of the UV, held from 25 to 27 November in the Espai Vives.
These three days of debates have been a great example of the power of the word and the exchange of ideas, with solid arguments for and against the topic of the League this year: "Is democracy in danger?". After three days of intense debates, the D team, comprising Blanca Barrios, Nur El Manchoud, Aitana Gracia, Joan Orts and Pablo Tormo, has competed against the F team, comprising Knarik Adamyan, Santiago Doñate, Laura Luque, Irene Moya and Pau Sadurní. In this even final, the F team has been proclaimed champion and Pau Sadurní, member of this team and law student, has been awarded the best speaker in the competition.
In every debate, the teams participating have provided hard data, strong arguments and personal stories, in order to defend the position for or against the topic of the debate, which they were told just at the beginning of each debate. Among the participants, there were students from the faculties of Law, Philology, Translation and Communication, Geography and History, Psychology and Speech Therapy, Biological Sciences, Philosophy and Educational Sciences and Sociology and Teacher Training.
The jury that has evaluated the development of the debates included Maria Josep Picó Garcés, professor in the Department of Language Theory and Communication Sciences (UV); Elena García Testal, professor in the Department of Labour and Social Security Law (UV), Aitana Torró Calabuig, trainee research staff of the Human Rights Institute (UV), and Olga Dénia Moreno, head of the Information and Promotion Service for Students (Sedi).
It should be noted that students participating have received the training Public Speaking: a preparatory course for the University Debate League, where they were able to improve their oratory, with tactics for making oral speeches, and working on the fear of speaking in public, the voice, body and performance. The course was taught by Gonçal López-Pampló Rius and Maria Saiz Raimundo, of the Department of Catalan (UV); Daniel Tormo, actor and playwright; and Aitana Torró Calabuig, trainee researcher in the Department of Political Legal Philosophy and specialist in the debate's subject.
University Debate League of the Xarxa Vives
Each member of the winning team and the best speaker of the Internal Debate League receives a prize of €200 each. In addition, the Universitat de València will choose from the students participating in the local phase the team that will represent UV at the University Debate League of the Xarxa Vives 2026, which this year will take place in the University of Alacant, from 27 to 29 April 2026.
The University Debate League of the Xarxa Vives is a dialectic competition in which different teams of university students debate on a controversial and current topic. The aim of the competition is to encourage speech and promote skills such as argumentation, public speaking, information research, collaborative work and staging. It also aims to foster relationships with students from other universities of the Xarxa Vives of Universities. In the Universitat de València it has been driven by the Student Delegation and organised by the Information and Promotion Service for Students (Sedi).
