“Generally our first debate every semester is going to be university-focused, and obviously this one is a little charged in a few ways,” said Tyler Clay, president of DiPhi. “We’re trying to increase membership and increase our foothold on campus and it serves both of those purposes, I think.”
DiPhi’s debate hall was filled for the event, with 48 people in attendance — only 35 of whom were members.
The meeting began soon after 7:30 with a reading of a passage of Thomas Wolfe’s “Look Homeward, Angel.” Wolfe was a member of DiPhi during his time at UNC.
Chase Hawisher, DiPhi’s critic who was part of the committee that selected the meeting’s topic, expressed the importance of having insightful debate on personal subjects.
“So we’re going to have two smart people tell you why she should resign and two smart people why she shouldn’t resign, and hopefully something insightful will happen,” he said.
Seniors Ryan Rosenberg and Derrick Flakoll both spoke for the resolution while Illirik Smirnov and Sarah Pickhardt spoke against.
Rosenberg focused on Spelling’s reported favorability of corporatizing education during his speech, which Smirnov countered by expressing how this attitude could benefit students for whom cost played a role in prohibiting them from education.
“Spelling’s dedication that education is run cheaply and with little bloat is beneficial to the other students of the UNC system,” he said.
