Why an Undefeated High School Debate Team Refuses to Compete at Liberty University This Weekend
Fatima Shahbaz and Jessica Boyer, juniors at McLean High School in Fairfax County, Va., are a pair of debaters who as a team have gone undefeated this season in the Virginia High School League. But as the state’s top students gather at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. for the state debate championship Friday, the teenagers and several other debaters will be sitting it out.
Debaters from at least five Northern Virginia high schools decided to boycott the state tournament because of remarks made by Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. that they perceived to be anti-Muslim. At a convocation in December, Falwell urged students to obtain concealed-carry permits and arm themselves so they could “end those Muslims” — a statement he has said was referring only to the Islamic terrorists who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., not all Muslims. Read a commentary from Falwell on the issue here.
[Another view: Jerry Falwell Jr. says debate boycott is based on false assumptions]
Shahbaz is Muslim and her parents expressed concerns over her safety at Liberty, where students with concealed-carry permits can carry guns and keep them in residence halls. Debate coaches said other Muslim students felt similarly fearful
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