Civic Debate team takes first in Paris!

Three PHC students brought home the win at the 2026 Transatlantic Dialogues tournament hosted at École De Guerre in Paris, France! This marks PHC’s third year competing and its second 1st-place finish.

Patrick Henry College sent two teams of three people each to the competition. The first team was comprised of recent alumni Ben and Abigail Spivey (EBA ’26) and junior Caleb Helsing, and the second team was comprised of sophomore Camille Rowley and juniors Haley Bock and Wyatt Trull.

Camille, Haley, and Wyatt advanced to the final round, facing competition from George Washington University (2nd place) and two Masters students at Sciences Po (3rd place, formerly Paris Institute of Political Studies). Haley Bock also won the 10th-place speaker award.

Tyler Dunning (EBA ’22), Head Coach of PHC’s Civic Debate Program, said, “I think what it came down to is that Wyatt, Camille, and Haley’s professionalism and style and communication were really a step above. They are top-notch speakers and knew how to focus their proposal to hit on the key issues.”

The day after the competition, the finalist teams got the incredible opportunity to present their policy recommendations on “how the Transatlantic Alliance should mend divisions and confront threats from Russia and China” to two top advisors to the French Minister of the Armed Forces. One of the advisors shared that they had met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte just the day prior in preparation for the Ankara Summit. Both have a direct hand in shaping France's agenda coming into the NATO talks.

“I doubt they really were sitting there listening to American students to figure out what to put in the NATO Agreement,” Wyatt said. “However, they did remark that our teams had some very good ideas.”

"It was a great honor to have high-ranking officials take an hour or more of their time to come, listen to the students' ideas, take thorough notes, and share their reflections on the teams' proposals about these critical issues of international relations,” Tyler said.

Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.