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Event - A Screening of The Great Debaters and Panel Discussion

February 01, 2019

Past Event

Schedule

8:15 a.m.
School Group Check-in Opens

9:00 a.m.
Welcome Remarks and Debate Showcase

10:00 a.m.
Screening of The Great Debaters

12:15 p.m.
Lunch (provided)

1:15 p.m.
Panel Discussion with Writer and Actors

2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Self-guided Museum Tours (School Groups)

Event - A Screening of The Great Debaters and Panel Discussion

February 01, 2019

Past Event

Schedule

8:15 a.m.
School Group Check-in Opens

9:00 a.m.
Welcome Remarks and Debate Showcase

10:00 a.m.
Screening of The Great Debaters

12:15 p.m.
Lunch (provided)

1:15 p.m.
Panel Discussion with Writer and Actors

2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Self-guided Museum Tours (School Groups)

To kick off the 2019 season of our Great Communicator Debate Series as well as the first day of Black History Month, we’re partnering with ProCon.org to present a screening of the award-winning film The Great Debaters. The event will conclude with a panel discussion featuring cast members and the writer of the film.

Set in 1935 and based on real events, The Great Debaters tells the story of Melvin B. Tolson (portrayed by Denzel Washington) and his efforts to organize the first debate team at Wiley College, a historically black college in Marshall, Texas. He successfully forms the club after meeting resistance from a student’s influential father (James Farmer Sr., played by Forest Whitaker), and they go on to become the first black debate team to challenge Harvard in a national championship.

Following the screening and then lunch, attendees are in for a real treat: The writer of the film, Robert Eisele, will join cast members Denzel Whitaker (who plays debater James Farmer Jr.) and Jermaine Williams (who plays debater Hamilton Burgess), for a panel discussion about the events depicted in the movie and its lessons that still ring true today.

The screening is open to high school students as well as one adult chaperone per each group of 15 students. Registration includes complimentary admission to the museum, featuring the special exhibition Pompeii. The registration table will open at 8:15 a.m. on the day of the event. Following the screening and prior to the panel discussion, students will have lunch under Air Force One. After the panel discussion, guests may tour the museum. Bus scholarships are available.

Teachers will receive a classroom discussion guide for further exploration of the film’s themes and a complimentary one-year membership to ProCon.org (a $25 value) for additional educator resources. For groups unable to attend in person, the panel discussion will be livestreamed on the Foundation’s Facebook page.

Registration is limited. This event is sponsored by the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation.

Need transportation? Bus scholarships are available based on need and on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information or to fill out an application, please contact Kenneth Schneider at kschneider@reaganfoundation.org.

Further Reading:
https://www.humanitiestexas.org/news/articles/wiley-colleges-great-debaters