Continuing a long standing tradition, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council welcomed a team from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia for a public debate as a part of Bates College's celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Drawing on the role of religion in the 20th century Civil Rights movement, the debate was centered on the resolution, "This house believes that religion is a necessary element of a just social change."

With students from Morehouse College, the Brooks Quimby debaters held a public debate Monday, debating whether or not the United States should contract private corporations to own and operate prisons.

The Brooks Quimby Debate Council and Bates College welcomed high school students from across the state of Maine to the Team's annual Speech & Debate Tournament for high school students. Tournament directors Walter Garcia '11 and Molly Nelson '11 coordinated the tournament in concert with the Maine Forensics Association.