Two Cambridge students emerged winners of the International Inter-varsity Debating Competition, held last weekend by the Debating Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.

Sean Koh (pictured left), a third-year economics student at Trinity Hall, and Doug Cochran (right), a second-year affiliate law student at Emmanuel College, competed in five rounds against 96 teams from eight countries and 40 different institutions.

In the final round the duo debated the motion, “This house believes that those who buy non-essential goods rather than giving to charity are morally responsible for the death of starving Africans” against teams from Oxford, the LSE and Trinity College Dublin.

Mhairi Murdoch, a fifth-year medical student at Girton, was judged best speaker in the competition, and reached the semi-finals along with two other teams from Cambridge.

The competition’s chief adjudicator, responsible for setting the motions and the adjudication of the competition, is also a Cambridge student. Jo Box is in her fourth year at Murray Edwards College, studying for a post-graduate law degree, and is a former Director of Debating at the Cambridge Union Society.
 

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