 While developed as a "gifted" program, it was open to all Detroit communities and brought many socio-economically disadvantaged students into the activity.In Atlanta, the Urban Debate League was born as a graduate school research paper in 1983 that explored the hypothesis that debate might be a tool to level the playing field in education, and that words might be used to reduce violence in America’s cities.The initial Atlanta UDL was formed as a partnership between the Barkley Forum of Emory University and the Atlanta Public Schools.