January 10, 2025 — The San Antonio Express-News today reported that a team of students from Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas, have advanced into the Top 32 round of the International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) — a high school debate contest sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University.
By advancing, the team remains eligible to win a $10,000 grand prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to the IPPF Finals in New York City this May.
The report notes that the contest began in October, when 283 teams submitted qualifying round essays on the topic, "Resolved: Equitable access to pharmaceuticals should be prioritized over intellectual property rights."
"We commend all the advancing teams for their achievement on this global stage," said William A. Brewer III, chairman of the Brewer Foundation and founder of the IPPF. "This is among the most complex and pressing issues on which our students have ever debated. As advocates, our law firm started this competition with a vision to promote what we see here — an extraordinary level of academic research, scholarship, and discourse."
The publication reports that the Brewer Foundation created the IPPF in 2001 to "inspire students to think critically and develop skills to make a broader impact. The competition went global in 2009 and today attracts thousands of high school debaters worldwide."
To read the full report, click here (subscription required).