The Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) debate team has achieved outstanding results at the 2025 National University Debating Championship (NUDC) and the Indonesian Student Debate Competition (Kompetisi Debat Mahasiswa Indonesia/KDMI) held at Universitas Jenderal Soedirman (Unsoed), Purwokerto, from Oct. 20 to 24, 2025. In this national competition, which brought together participants from universities across Indonesia, the UGM contingent secured several awards in the prestigious English-language NUDC and Indonesian-language KDMI debate contests.
In the KDMI, UGM was represented by Alfarizi Rona Saputra Setiana from the Faculty of Law and Nawfal Aulia Luthfurrahman from the Faculty of Economics and Business. Both participants delivered strong performances from the preliminary rounds through the finals, demonstrating solid issue analysis, argument development, and rhetorical skills.
By the end of the competition, Alfarizi Rona Saputra Setiana was named First Best Speaker, while Nawfal Aulia Luthfurrahman received the Fourth Best Speaker Award in the KDMI Open Category. These achievements reflect UGM students’ ability to think critically and argue systematically in national-level Indonesian debate forums.
Meanwhile, in the NUDC competition, UGM was represented by Jason Valentino Samvero from the Faculty of Law and Brian Hose Antonio Hambur from the Faculty of Economics and Business. The team secured 3rd Runner-Up in the 2025 NUDC Open Category.
Both speakers also achieved individual recognition, with Brian Hose Antonio Hambur named Second Best Speaker and Jason Valentino Samvero awarded Co-Fourth Best Speaker in the NUDC Open Category.
The UGM NUDC team shared that they prepared for the competition in just one month. However, they had already been practicing independently by reading, researching, and listening to debate speeches.
“We usually spend about an hour each day studying, researching, or practicing speeches. We also translate transcripts of speeches by international debaters. The key is time management. Debate is really a long-term investment. When the competition approaches, we just review and update ourselves on current issues. So the training does not take too much time,” Brian Hambur said on Tuesday (Nov. 11).
Their success in the competition was not only the result of their hard work but also of the strong support from the university and the Gadjah Mada Debating Society (GMDS). They noted that administrative and logistical assistance from the university played an important role.
“We receive support every year, for example, from the Directorate of Student Affairs. Even something as simple as processing permission letters becomes much easier, which really helps. Beyond that, the university provides transportation, accommodation, allowances, practice rooms, and competition rooms, especially for online rounds. Before the national stage, there is a regional selection, and the selection is held online,” Hambur explained.
In addition, the UGM NUDC team received the Roderick Sibarani Award for Best Performing Team, a special recognition presented to the team with the best overall performance outside the main competition assessments.
The award evaluates not only argumentative skills and debate strategy but also sportsmanship, consistency, and positive contributions to the competition environment. The Roderick Sibarani Award honors teams that embody the spirit of constructive and inspiring debate.
UGM’s participation in NUDC and KDMI each year reflects the university’s commitment to supporting students in developing into future leaders who are knowledgeable, globally competitive, and of high integrity.
UGM hopes these achievements encourage other students to continue excelling and representing the university at national and international levels. The team also hoped its success would inspire its juniors.
“As senior members, we always emphasize to juniors who plan to join debate competitions to train diligently. If they ever need help, they can always reach out to us for training or guidance,” Hambur said.
Author: Salwa
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Salma
Photographs: UGM Debate Team