Raft Debate

What is the Raft Debate?

What is the Raft Debate?

Described as a "delicate balance of comedy and lecture", the annual Raft Debate features four W&M faculty members from diverse disciplines, stranded on a desolate island with only a one-person life raft for escape to civilization. Which faculty member should survive for the sake of humanity? Based on the volume of applause, the audience chooses the sole survivor as the professors cajole, plead, pontificate, and resort shamelessly to props and costumes.

Faculty participants represent the Arts & Humanities, the Social Sciences, and the Natural, Mathematical and Health Sciences. The Devil's Advocate, who argues sarcastically that none of the academic disciplines are worth saving, has on occasion emerged victorious.