Ivette Ortiz and Devone Williams Take Home Team Debate Trophy

Banovetz funds provided nine students the opportunity to attend the Conference of Minorities in Public Administration (COMPA) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Read Devone William’s Reflection

From left to right (1st row): Abigail Monrroy, Bolor Bat-Erdem, Diana Puga, Max Gonzalez, Bernard Wells (2nd row): Alex Arteaga, Devone Williams, Ivette Ortiz, Aaron Lewis.

After attending the Conference of Minorities in Public Administration (COMPA), I left feeling affirmed in my educational and career pursuits. Seeing, meeting, and interacting with minority professionals across many fields in public administration was an incredible experience. Some of the sessions I attended covered subjects such as: food deserts, diversity in higher education, creating economic development opportunities in economically depressed communities, and civic engagement initiatives for communities facing cultural silos.

One of the best experiences for me was the policy debate. Thirty MPA and PhD participants from different universities divided into groups of five. The six teams were informed of their position on a topic on the spot after a coin flip.

The debate had three parts; the opening in which you state your position, the rebuttal against the opposing side’s argument, and the closing argument. Representatives from NIU were on the final two teams. After the final round my team took home the L. Frances P. Liddell Student Policy Debate trophy.

Congratulations to Ivette Ortiz and Devone Williams winners of the L. Frances P. Liddell Student Policy Debate Trophy.

I appreciated the department providing the funds to attend the conference and I plan to attend next year’s conference in Dallas and future conferences to come.