Professional Help

Jim Sciutto ’88, CNN’s chief national-security correspondent, stopped by the Hearn Room on May 15 to help team members prepare for the upcoming National Speech and Debate Association championship tournament. A standout performer on the Hearn in his day, Sciutto joined Mr. Eric DiMichele and a group of seniors in talking through the various resolutions they would argue at nationals, from the need for government control of social media during times of national emergency to the value of a bipartisan unity ticket in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Documenting the visit in its June 10 & 17 print edition, The New Yorker wrote that the Regians “sounded like an Aaron Sorkin fantasy of what teen-agers sound like: fact-touting, earnest, quippy.” At the end of the visit, Sciutto gave each student a signed copy of The Shadow War, his new book documenting“secret operations to defeat America” by Russia and China.

The preparation paid off, as Regis finished among the top eight teams in the World Schools Debate category at the national tournament.