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Raft Debate
Watch This Year's 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.
Join us for the 2025 Raft Debate on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Auditorium, Sadler Center.
Meet the 2025 Raft Debaters!
Social Sciences: Andrea Wright
Class of 1952 Distinguished Associate Professor of Anthropology and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Professor Andrea Wright is a cultural and historical anthropologist. Her research focuses on labor migration, the oil industry, and governance in the Middle East and South Asia. In her free time, she plays keyboard in a band, reads sci-fi novels, hikes, and makes vegan soup.
Humanities: Andrew Tobolowsky
Walter G. Mason Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Andrew Tobolowsky is the author of four books and numerous articles on topics ranging from the twelve tribes of Israel to the MCU. He is a devoted fan of the Dallas Mavericks, despite how badly they have tried to change that fact with their personnel decisions.
Sciences: Isabelle Taylor
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Professor Isabelle Taylor specializes in biochemistry and chemical biology. Her research focuses on developing new antibiotics that block bacteria from communicating with each other and coordinating their group actions to stage an infection. As an expert in bacterial languages, she is confident she could raise an army of bacteria to take over the world (so you better not leave her on the island!). She is also an avid fan of "Survivor," which should come in handy for the Raft Debate.
Devil's Advocate: Jonah Goldwater
Assistant Teaching Professor of Philosophy
Professor Jonah Goldwater specializes in wisdom, freedom, metaphysics, critical thinking, and the meaning of life. Realizing his philosophy Ph.D. would take him only so far with Lucifer, Goldwater earned his MBA from W&M’s Mason School of Business and is now the devil’s Chief Executive Officer in addition to his Advocate. When not taking contrarian positions for argument’s sake, Goldwater enjoys cats, thinking about cats, and thinking about thinking about cats. An avid baseball fan, he only parts ways with the devil over the latter’s fervent support of the New York Yankees.
Judge/Emcee: Trey Mayo
Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies, School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics
Assistant Dean Trey Mayo (Ed.D. ’22) oversees graduate studies support and operations in the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics, managing admissions, academic progress, and all things paperwork. He previously served in a similar capacity in the College of Arts & Sciences at W&M.
While his lifelong dream of being a TV game show host didn't pan out, he found a perfect consolation prize: serving as The Judge of the Raft Debate, moderating four academics who fight for survival after a hypothetical shipwreck. When the spreadsheets are filed away and the robe is hung up, Mayo enjoys nature walks, spending time with his mother and his feline fur-daughter, Chewie, and finding the perfect YouTube clip or meme for the occasion.
Last Year's Raft Debate
Watch the 2024 Raft Debate! See last year's debaters.
Previous Debates
Take a glimpse into the arguments from W&M's 2019 Raft Debate!
You can also check out the 2018 Raft Debate and the 2016 Raft Debate.