program support for urban debate initiatives was granted through the National Forensic League and Phillips Petroleum by the early 1990s. Significant seed funding was then provided by the Open Society Institute (OSI) in the Spring of 1997 to take the initiative national, and OSI chose the Atlanta Urban Debate League model as the template to model in other cities. As a result, Atlanta has traditionally been thought to be the basis for the urban debate network. By 2010, more than 40,000 urban public school students had competed in UDL tournaments, coming from over 400 high schools. The once predominantly white, suburban activity has changed to more accurately reflect American society. And the tireless efforts of the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, the Associated Leaders of Urban Debate, and the National Debate Project continue to promote, support, and assess this important educational reform movement. The Open Society Institute and New Leagues The most crucial component in making the Urban Debate League a national education reform movement was seed funding from George Soros’ Open Society Institute. In the spring of 1997, OSI launched its High School Debate Grantmaking Program, the purpose of which was to support initiatives that seek to institutionalize competitive debate opportunities in high schools in traditionally underserved communities. OSI already had a tradition of supporting high school debate through its network of foundations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, where OSI had demonstrated that participation in debate fostered the skills that empower young people to actively participate as citizens of open society. After the successful establishment at a successful Urban Debate League in New York City based on the Atlanta model, OSI continued its support for the Atlanta and New York City leagues. By 2000, OSI had provided seed and support funding for leagues in Detroit, Tuscaloosa, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, the San Francisco Bay area, Baltimore, Providence, and Southern California. Before ending the program, they had provided funding for the establishment of UDLs, adding Los Angeles, and Newark. All of those leagues are still operating in 2010, and continue to serve students and provide educational opportunities that would otherwise not exist. That continued operation shows that the OSI initiative has been a great success in creating a program that would be able to gain public and private support in order to continue even when the initial OSI grants ended. The contributions of OSI and