13th Annual Minnesota Urban Debate League Event Highlights Arctic Policy
Former Minnesota state representative Matt Entenza has been named the 2025 Champion of Change by the Minnesota Urban Debate League. He will receive the award at Quincy Hall in northeast Minneapolis on September 17, 2025, as part of MNUDL’s 13th annual policy debate showcase.
The 2025 Mayors Challenge: The Great Arctic Debate will explore issues related to Arctic exploration and development in front of an audience of state and local leaders, including Governor Tim Walz and First Lady Gwen Walz. This year’s student debaters are Eleanor Nervig (Roosevelt High School) and Sir Nakhai Guy-Cornelius (Open World Learning Community), arguing the affirmative, and Ayan Ahmed (Edison High School) and Charlotte Washington (Central High School), arguing the negative.
MNUDL gives out the Champion of Change award annually to a changemaker who models courageous leadership in Minnesota and beyond. Entenza’s experiences with policy debate at Augustana University and Macalester College ultimately led him to a career in public service and the law. With law degrees from Oxford University and the University of Minnesota, he has worked as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota, an Assistant Hennepin County Attorney, and an attorney in private practice specializing in nonprofit organizations.
As a six-term legislator in the Minnesota House of Representatives (1995–2007), Entenza served as House Democratic Leader for four years and was recognized for his focus on consumer and family protections. His legislative accomplishments have been honored by organizations including Children’s Defense Fund, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, the Minnesota Farmers Union, the National Child Support Enforcement Association, the League of Conservation Voters, the Minnesota Nurses Association, the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, the National Coalition to End Child Hunger, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. After leaving the legislature, Entenza created Minnesota 2020, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering discussion and debate in education, health care, transportation and economic development. He has also worked as an international election monitor in Africa and Europe and served on the boards of the Hazelden Foundation, Macalester College, and Augsburg University, where he is a past board chair. Entenza’s belief in the transformative power of debate led to his founding support of MNUDL, for which he received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 from the National Speech and Debate Association.
“As a former debater, I strongly believe in the power of debate on people’s lives,” said Entenza. “I would not have been able to go to college if not for debate. You gain such amazing insights when you meet other students from around the state and learn about their interests. That’s created a lifelong peer group for me.”
Since 2012, the Mayors Challenge event has brought together education advocates from across the Twin Cities to watch an empowering, informative showcase debate and invest in the future of urban debate. Debate has been shown to positively impact literacy, self-esteem, critical thinking, attendance, and test scores. Students who participate in debate develop the capacity to engage in civil disagreement and civil discourse, skills that are essential for citizenship in a multicultural democracy.
Learn more or reserve tickets for the 2025 Mayors Challenge.
About MNUDL
The Minnesota Urban Debate League is a program of Augsburg University that provides resources and programming to support competitive academic debate in Twin Cities high schools and middle schools. The mission of MNUDL is to empower students through competitive academic debate to become engaged learners, critical thinkers, and active global citizens who are effective advocates for themselves and their communities. Currently, MNUDL serves more than 1,850 students at 60+ partner schools and has seen sustained growth in student participation since its inception in 2004, in programs including MSHSL debate, middle school debate, Spanish Debate, East African Policy Debate, Financial Literacy Debates, and Summer Speech & Debate Camp at Augsburg.