Part of the BDL’s mission is to teach the values of representative democracy in practice, so you better understand how to bring them not only to the government but to your places of work. We bring these values deep into the BDL, not just to be good role models but because it works so well.

What the Student Council decides

  • Decide how to spend $1,000 of discretionary funding on anything BDL-related
  • Cast one collective, Director-level vote on the BDL’s circuit tournament schedule for the coming year
  • Set the docket for BDL scrimmages, starting in November
  • Act as a liaison between debaters and BDL staff
  • Take on decisions that Directors, Coach Fellows, or school coaches delegate to it

Is it a lot of work?

Not really, except for writing the scrimmage dockets. The council mostly talks on Slack. You can set your own meetings if you want, and we ask council members to come to two BDL Community Meetings a year.

Who sits on the council

Ten students. Seven seats go to schools, one each, chosen at Kickoff:

  • Brooklyn Latin
  • Pace High School
  • DREAM Charter
  • Coney Island Prep
  • BDL Nomads
  • Uncommon Collegiate
  • Uncommon Prep Charter

The other three at-large seats are filled by an open election on this page.

Who can run for an at-large seat?

Anyone who has attended a BDL event in the last year, or anyone at one of the schools above, including FDA and UCHS, can run for an at-large seat.

How the election works

Candidates register with a short statement of up to 300 characters. Everyone registered appears on the ballot. Once voting opens, each student picks up to three candidates, and the three with the most votes win.